| During a conversation with the director of the Austrian Museum of Modern Art, or MUMOK, in Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier, we find out if one of the most prestigious art museums in Austria thinks its art is better defined by its place on the international stage or its place in the MQ. |  |
MUMOK – Larian Triers
During a conversation with the director of the Austrian Museum of Modern Art, or MUMOK, in Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier, we find out if one of the most prestigious art museums in Austria thinks its art is better defined by its place on the international stage or its place in the MQ.
Larian Triers: In general terms, how would you define Austrian contemporary art?
Edelbert Köb: Austrian art is internationally oriented; it operates and communicates on a level that is very advanced in terms of art theorization and context awareness. Largely, it stems from traditions that are based on performance and conceptualization. It is defined as Austrian art by a strong awareness of the human form.
LT: How would you define the contemporary Austrian understanding of art?
EK: Austrian art’s full comprehension is held by a very well educated group of specialists who work within various fields of the art industry. These specialists work in museums and galleries; they are freelancers or art reviewers trained in art as an educated discourse and play an important role internationally. On the other hand, there is still a conservative understanding of art within Austria, but this is mainly orientated around painting in the modern tradition, and around blockbuster exhibitions.
LT: What role do you think the MuseumsQuartier plays in terms of what it represents about Austrian art?
EK: The answer is simple: a very important one. The MQ’s importance rests in the fact that its art institutions house Austrian artists among other talents, allowing them an international platform, and therefore an international voice.
LT: Do you think the Eastern and Western divide of Austria's geography is at all represented by the MUMOK? How and why?
EK: The MUMOK is internationally oriented and comes with a strong integration of Austrian art—for example, the present exhibition of Viennese Actionism. However, this is not a question of geographic division within Austria. A lot of the most important Austrian artists from the Western part of the country live in Vienna, or have strong art connections to this city. The work is displayed based on the strength of the art, not so much because of the geography.
LT: Do you think Austria’s East/West divide is at all represented by the Museum's Quartier? How and why?
EK: The answer to this question is a difficult one to elucidate by simple means. In short, Austria has a federal political system. The idea of an East and a West doesn’t exist geographically. So, there is not a division but a concentration and integration of art from Austria’s East and West. This can be thought of as represented in the MQ in its many forms.
LT: Please compare and contrast the MUMOK with the Kunsthalle and with the Leopold's Museum as much as possible.
EK: It’s easy to contrast the Kunsthalle with the MUMOK, as it is not a museum, but an exhibition space only. It also includes a program of exhibitions that operate on a high international level and, in some ways, it is very similar to the MUMOK. However it lacks, comparatively, the historical and museological basis that the MUMOK works from. So they can’t exactly be compared. With regard to its collections, the Leopold Museum is more oriented toward the tradition of Modernism and especially Austrian Modernism. It represents more traditional and local art than the MUMOK.
LT: How has the art placed in the MUMOK changed over the past ten years?
EK: Technically speaking, there has been a shift from the painting, sculpture and installations of the 90s to more technologically advanced art—art using photography, film, video and computer, with more of a performance and conceptual basis.
LT: Could you talk about the reason behind displaying the Erwin Würm exhibition "Keep a Cool Head”? What was it about and what artistic aims was the MUMOK trying to achieve by including it as an exhibition at the turn of this year?
EK: Würm is an Austrian artist with an international reputation. In so being, he is exhibited continuously in our so-called “Mid-Life Career” survey exhibition, alongside the likes of Zöbernig, Rockenschaub and Kögler. The exhibition focuses on the generation of artists between 50 and 60 who made their real career jumps into the limelight in the early 80s. So, the “Keep a Cool Head” exhibition is part of a continuous profile that we work on, and is dedicated to the integration of Austrian art into the international scene.
LT: Does the MUMOK take its lead from the Leopold Museum and the Kunsthalle in deciding what to exhibit next?
EK: This is not something that happens. The art institutions house their exhibitions according to their own guidelines and goals. The only exception is that there are certain co-operations that go on during which the museums run their exhibitions alongside one another. The MUMOK is doing something like this with the Kunsthalle now with “Traum und Trauma: Art from the Dakis Collection.”
LT: Do you see the Museums Quartier as complete? Do you think that there should be another space for exhibiting artistic work to perfect the Quartier?
EK: I do not think the MQ is complete. For the MUMOK to survive and maintain its longevity into the future, it will at least need to have more space. This is something that cannot be found within the MuseumsQuartier. The MQ is one important part of a very vivid art life in Vienna with important museums and art institutions, but this could perhaps be extended outside the Quartier.
