© Lena Schramek
How I combine art with interpreting
Author: Prima Mathawabhan (UGC)
Lena Schramek is an interpreter and translator. Lena studied at the Institute for the Artistic Teaching Profession at the Academy and she shares with us about her educational path and how it developed after her studies.
Interview and video: Prima Mathawabhan
Prima Mathawabhan is a graduate of the Institute of Art and Architecture and has been studying at the Institute of Fine Arts in the Department of Art and Image | Graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna since 2023.
The Video is in Austrian sign language with interpretation to German. The transcript below is in English.
Children are locked up. All good. Could you introduce yourself?
Yes, hello, I'm Lena. Lena Schramek. Yes, I'm 42 years old now, mother of two children and I was born in Vienna and have lived here ever since. Yes, are there any questions?
What did you study at the academy?
I studied to be a teacher of visual education with a focus on painting and a second subject of textile design.
What did you do after your studies?
Well, I worked at "Gebärdenwelt". It's a news platform where messages are signed from app texts. I did that until my first pregnancy. So, I think probably a good six months. Then I was at home for three years and after that I wanted to go to a school for the deaf to work as a teacher. But then I got pregnant a second time and was at home again for a year. And then I found out that there was a training course for interpreters/translators for deaf people in Salzburg. And I wanted to be part of it, so I went there with my baby and my studies, so to speak, for two years, graduated, took my exam and have been working as an interpreter and translator ever since.
How did your studies influence your current job?
So after my studies, or since finishing my studies, there have always been little things, for example for theater or performances, also drawing things and of course for interpreting-translating work, I have always been able to bring in the background well, for example now in the context of the Kunsthistorisches Museum or the Dommuseum or recently also the Wienmuseum. And thanks to my studies, I've been able to make good connections, to bring in knowledge in a profitable way, and in that respect there are always references, of course.
Thank you, that was it.
Ah that was it. Great. Alright.
