Im Museum
“Living exhibitions create situations - they are not afraid of visitors staying and what they might do, but activate them. At the same time, however, they transcend the field of the socially active situation [...] and also activate the objects and the entire infrastructure that supports the format.” (Thomas Oberender, The Living Exhibition, 2018)
In this year's Form*Design module, we would like to explore the potential of the museum as a place of lively discourse. Students will be given the space and opportunity to develop and practically implement visions and ideas in this regard. To this end, we will enter into an active dialog with all protagonists of such an institution. Museums are places of representation and knowledge transfer as well as repositories and guardians of our cultural canon. They bear a delicate social responsibility in dealing with post-colonial discourses and must always be questioned and rethought. What is the social significance of museums today? For whom are museums (not) accessible and what is shown in them? Are they still up-to-date in view of their enormous consumption of resources?
In the course of the course, concepts and designs for modular objects will be developed for the exhibition spaces of the Weltmuseum Wien. In two teams, ideas and design proposals relating to the project theme will be developed and put into practice. These will be tested and discussed in the form of artistic interventions on site at the museum. The modeling room of the research area, which can be used on Mondays and Wednesdays, serves as a studio and production site. A corresponding interest in art and culture as well as in craftsmanship are necessary prerequisites for participation in the course. Active participation and a high level of commitment are expected.
An interim report of the project results will be made during the interim presentations in May 2023. The research results achieved will be presented to the public in June/July 2023 in the form of final presentations in the presence of all project partners and participants on the premises of the Weltmuseum. The exhibition rooms of the Weltmuseum are accessible to students during general opening hours throughout the semester, with free admission.
As part of the Form*Design module, an excursion to Turin will take place between March 22 and 25. This is intended to provide diverse input on the topics of exhibition design, display and mediation. Turin offers a very broad museum landscape with diverse institutions, such as the Egyptian Collection, the Casa Mollino, the Archivio Ezio Gribaudo and the Castello di Rivoli. Visits are also planned to the Palazzo Lavoro, the Torino Esposizioni (both Pier Luigi Nervi), the Palazzo Reale and the Cappella della Sacra Sindone (Camillo-Guarino Guarini).
Christian Kern
Marie Reichel
Lukas Thaler
Christoph Meier