Today, Dr. Christian Buchmann, Styrian Councillor for Culture, and Sandro Droschl, Director, drew a positive balance on the first successful year of the newly opened Künstlerhaus KM–, Halle für Kunst & Medien.
This house of art, which maintains an international orientation while focusing on outstanding Styrian artists, is distinguished by high programmatic and content-related density: in 2013, 5 group exhibitions and 6 solo exhibitions were realised, enriched by an accompanying programme that featured 44 events and 5 publications. In the first year alone, the Künstlerhaus KM– welcomed 12,500 visitors. Planned for 2014 are 4 group exhibitions, 9 solo presentations, various accompanying publications, and an extensive events programme. In March the elaborate thematic exhibition "Words as Doors – in Language, Art, Film" will be premiering. Further, the Berlin art bookstore Motto will be opening a branch in the foyer of the Künstlerhaus KM–. The objective here is to extend offerings to a broader public and to further strengthen the already established position in both the regional and the international art contexts.
Director Droschl: “With the successful founding of the Künstlerhaus KM–, Halle für Kunst & Medien, it has proved possible to take a time-honoured traditional structure and develop a powerful organisation with international radiance in a relatively short period of time. The Künstlerhaus KM– stands for a house of contemporary art and its media, a place that represents the exhibition, production, and discussion of art in step with the times. The focus of the venue’s comprehensive objectives is especially trained on the interplay among visual arts, media art, and even new art, along with their high demands. Besides the realisation of what, in my eyes, is truly an astonishingly high density of exciting exhibitions, events, and publications, an essential task also lies in conveying all of this to an eclectic audience. I would like to extend my thanks to the Province of Styria for the renovation of the building and for financially supporting our day-to-day operations. I am also grateful to the City of Graz and to the Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture for supporting our programme. All of these efforts would surely languish without the excellent synergy between my highly dedicated team and the core of the Künstlerhaus KM–, the many wonderful artists presented here with great care, many of whom are being introduced to a broader public for the first time. In general, the house of art is posited at the beginning of a future-oriented development, which I intend impel forward with all of our power.”
Councillor Buchmann: “A review of the first year substantiates that the Province’s investments have paid off, and that it was the right decision to direct the Künstlerhaus onto a totally new path. My congratulations go to Sandro Droschl, who together with his team has successfully repositioned the Künstlerhaus in line with the cultural-political mission. This unique exhibition venue has now once again attained the position within Styrian art and cultural life that it deserves.”
The Kunstverein Medienturm, which assumed responsibility for the Künstlerhaus at the beginning of the year 2013, has succeeded in newly positioning the Künstlerhaus as a Halle für Kunst & Medien [Hall for Art & Media] with an emphasis on contemporary international art as well as on Austrian and local art by employing a programmatically experimental and media-reflexive approach. During the first year, the Künstlerhaus KM– called attention to itself with an extensive and multifaceted arts programme, which has now also found expression in the lower level since the building’s reopening. Approximately 700 square meters of exhibition space on two levels housed 5 group and 6 solo exhibitions during the first year alone, showing artwork by 73 international and 121 Austrian artists, of which the latter included 105 Styrian artists. According to Buchmann: “Most of all, the Künstlerhaus succeeded in ‘thinking outside the box’, as the saying goes, and has thus contributed to a further internationalisation of Styria as a cultural hub thanks to the interlinking of Styrian and international artists. I am also pleased that the Styrian art associations are aware of the opportunities offered to them through the Künstlerhaus. At the same time, the successful first year represents a mission to further advance the position of the Künstlerhaus to that of hotspot for contemporary art, at home and abroad.”
Around 12,500 visitors arrived at the Künstlerhaus during its opening year. For 2014, Droschl is striving to more deeply establish the house of art and to further heighten public interest. He notes that “the extended opening hours of 11 a.m. to 6 pm. from Tuesday to Sunday, as well as the late Thursday with the doors closing at 8 p.m., coupled with the shortened conversion phase when switching exhibitions all serve to facilitate an optimal measure of accessibility for the Künstlerhaus visitors”.
After the Künstlerhaus, built in 1952, was renovated for around 2.1 million euros by the Province of Styria, a process that was completed in 2013, the Cultural Department of the Province of Styria supported the operation and the programme of the newly positioned Künstlerhaus KM– with 358,000 euros in 2013. The City of Graz presented the Künstlerhaus KM– with a total of 99,900 euros in funding. The Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture provided an annual sum of 90,000 to the Künstlerhaus KM–. All in all, the Künstlerhaus KM– received 547,900 euros (88.96 % of total turnover) from the public sector. Other earnings flowed in from the programme, accompanying events, and the publication of catalogues, as well as from admission payment, equating to a net total of 67,915 euros (11.04 % of total turnover). In the budget year 2013, total turnover amounted to 615,815 euros. Of this sum, 294,814 euros were spent on infrastructure and personnel costs (47.85 % of total turnover), 61,225 euros on advertising costs (9.95 % of total turnover), and 259.776 euros (42.20 % of total turnover) directly on the production of exhibitions, accompanying events, and exhibition catalogues. The building itself is provided by the Province of Styria. The supporting association, the Kunstverein Medienturm im “Künstlerhaus”, took on responsibility for budgeting and programming separately. The financial allocation of resources was carried out in a cost-effective and goal-oriented way and has resulted in a balanced budget for 2013.
The exhibitions shown in-house were accompanied by 44 events with around 10 lecturers and 8 artist talks, numerous curator dialogues and tours, all of which were conveyed using a discerning and low-threshold approach. The events are offered in the scope of the free-of-charge Thursday series called “An Art Day’s Night”, which gives a weekly stage to podium discussions, recitals, lectures, catalogue presentations, thematic dialogues, performances, concerts by artist bands, as well as general debate on and about art and the current exhibitions.
Most of exhibitions are documented by bilingual and richly illustrated catalogues to which local and international authors contribute text material. For example, in the first programme year two books were published by the Verlag für Moderne Kunst (Nuremberg), along with a self-published brochure and two fanzines. Three other publications are in progress.
Starting in March 2014, the international art bookshop Motto, based in Berlin, will be present in the foyer of the Künstlerhaus KM–, the first such site in Austria and the only bookstore in Graz that is specialised in art. The foyer will thus also offer visitors a chance to view a continually updated selection of international art magazines. Furthermore, in the Edition Medienturm continued at the Künstlerhaus KM– five videos were published as limited artists’ contributions. Also in 2013, presentations taking a week-long exhibition format were put on by the artists Lisa Kortschak, Stefan Panhans, Roland Rauschmeier, and Susanne Schuda.
Parterships with the Ö1 Club, Styrian Family Passport, Steiermark Card, Hunger auf Kunst & Kultur, and the Karl Franzens University of Graz have made it possible to offer reduced admission options. There were also over 30 offers geared to visitors, including Graz Guides, Spurensuche steirischer herbst, curator tours, kunsttext.werk, CMRK, and Rundgänge AKIG, as well as 22 school tours. What is more, eight different academy classes were actively interested in the education formats introduced by the Künstlerhaus KM–. Also since the reopening, structural improvements have been implemented: for example, the existing barrier-free wheelchair ramp was replaced by a new model that facilitates more flexible use in accordance with the varying demands of the exhibitions situations. In the lower level, a multifunctional lighting system was installed that is better suited to adapting to various exhibitions.
The first programme year and the repositioning of the art venue was mastered thanks to the experienced and dedicated Künstlerhaus KM– team: Sandro Droschl (Director), Helga Droschl (Managing Director), Christian Egger (Curator), Stefanie Steps (curatorial support), Elisabeth Schlögl (communications), Max Gansberger (technical direction), Darek Murawka (facility management), Nik Thoenen and Maia Gusberti (graphic design), Markus Krottendorfer (photography), Pia Watzenböck, Stella Plapp (interns), and Silvia Jaklitsch (editing, publisher relations).
Programme 2013
The programmatic objectives and the general targets of the Künstlerhaus KM– were jointly implemented by Director Sandro Droschl and Curator Christian Egger. In this art establishment with an international orientation that integrates Styrian positions—and which is situated between the visual arts and media art in terms of content—the experimental positions of younger artists are frequently shown in the sense of a discursive framework. The ambitious, quality-focused programme likewise reflects topical international currents, some of which are shown here for the first time in Austria, which in turn increasingly moves the location of Graz into the focus of international art production. The programme realised has been widely discussed in both daily and subject-specific media.
Examples from 2013 are outstanding artist positions like those of Monika Baer, Jana Euler, Wade Guyton, Jutta Koether, Michael Krebber, Birgit Megerle, Blake Rayne, Pamela Rosenkranz, Stefan Sandner, Gedi Sibony, Reena Spaulings, Lucie Stahl, Cheyney Thompson, and Jessica Warboys, who explored current mediatic issues related to painting in the opening exhibition "Chat Jet. Painting < Beyond > the Medium".
In the exhibition The only performances that make it all the way ..., which dealt with pressing questions related to performativity, the artists Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz, Michael Clark + The Fall, Guy de Cointet, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Liz Glynn, Thomas Kratz, Adam Linder, Michele di Menna, Gina Pane, Claus Richter, and Barbara T. Smith offered another highlight of exhibition activity at the Künstlerhaus KM–.
Reputed positions like those of the artists Vojin Bakić, Braco Dimitrijević, Aleksandra Domanović, Tomislav Gotovac, IRWIN, Sanja Iveković, Šejla Kamerić, Laibach, David Maljković, Dalibor Martinis, OHO, Tanja Ostojić, Marko Pogačnik, Renata Poljak, Marta Popivoda, and Raša Todosijević from the new countries of what was formely neighbouring Yugoslavia were collected in the exhibition "… Was ist Kunst? ... Resuming Fragmented Histories". Here the many artists explored the existential question “What is art?” as fielded in a key work by Raša Todosijević, which in turn lent the exhibition its name.
Kerstin Cmelka started her solo exhibition "Kunst und Lebensform" [Art and Life Form] with a large-scale live restaging of the piece “Change” by the Graz-based stage actor and playwright Wolfgang Bauer. On the occasion of the awarding of the Promotion Prize of the Province of Styria for Contemporary Fine Arts 2012 to an early pioneer of media art, Peter Gerwin Hoffmann, the exhibition "II PARALLEL WELTEN" was held, where a new installation by the artist was on show. The current awarding of two 2014 state fellowships in the field of fine arts to the Styrian sculptor Valentin Ruhry and the Styrian painter Doris Piwonka, both of whom had solo exhibitions of recent work at Künstlerhaus KM– in the year 2013, is very positive news. Together with three Styrian art associations— Künstlerbund Graz, Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Steiermarks, and Steiermärkischer Kunstverein Werkbund—a joint exhibition series was collaboratively realised in 2013, featuring a predefined thematic framework based on Alfred Kubin’s only fantasy novel, "Die andere Seite" [The Other Side].
Welcoming Speeches
Lisa Rücker
City Councillor, City of Graz
“Nearly one year after the inception of the Künstlerhaus KM–, Halle für Kunst und Medien, headed by Sandro and Helga Droschl, I am pleased to be able to deliver, in my role as City Councillor, a positive overview in the name of the City of Graz. In a beautifully renovated building, and following intense debate about the tendering process, a gingerly approached relaunch has been successful. Challenges will continue in the future, especially concerning the need to more strongly pursue an international orientation while simultaneously making space for local artists, as well as to maintain the Künstlerhaus as a venue for the regional art associations. I am so excited about the 2014 programme, which will present contemporary art in a multifaceted way. From film to fashion, from painting to performance—we will encounter international artists and Styrians who have enjoyed international renown. The 2014 programme has the potential to achieve strong identification with the Künstlerhaus on the part of Graz residents and also to foster international discourse on the social relevance of media and contemporary art.”
Mag. Andrea Ecker
Division Head of the Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture, Vienna
“Securing art and culture in Austria is the primary calling of the Arts Division of the Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture (BMUKK). Here sustainable financial parameters are created to facilitate the effective support of artists as well as of art and cultural institutions in the sphere of contemporary art, thus providing them with a stable and reliable partner. It gives me great pleasure to be able to support new concepts of an innovative and trailblazing nature, such as the newly positioned Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst und Medien (KM–). Director Sandro Droschl’s ambitious endeavour of topically probing, in this newly adapted exhibition venue, the relationship shared by the fine arts with video and media art—thus engaging with both realms—has been wonderfully successful. The presentation of numerous young international, Austrian, and regional artists also promises to offer an exciting exploration of contemporary art in 2014. Graz, the Province of Styria, and all of Austria are benefitting from this art establishment as a new cultural benchmark.”
Highlights 2014
At the Künstlerhaus KM–, current positions in the visual arts and their mediatic forms are introduced through experimentation with the prescribed, open concept and potential of art. In 2014, a multifaceted programme will once again ensure quality in the relations between the public and the artwork, featuring a wide variety of solo exhibitions and thematic group shows, accompanied by an events programme of comprehensive scope.
The Croatian artist Damir Očko (born 1977 in Zagreb) pursues, in his current exhibition Studies on Shivering, his interest in music, sounds, poetry, the “apparatus” of the human voice and language, and in their poetical and political potential. In parallel, the artist Silvia Ederer (born 1972 in Graz) will be working between the poles of photography, painting, and light in the lower level of the Künstlerhaus KM–.
In March, the large thematic group exhibition "Words as Doors – in Language, Art, Film" is devoted to the mutually permeating relationship of the written word with art and film and takes up strongly noted international positions related to the question: How and at what point does a film begin to be conceived through the written word? The long-awaited follow-up exhibition to the comprehensive international opening exhibition "Chat Jet (Part 2) – Sculpture in Reflexion" is dedicated to current concepts of sculpture. Just as in the introductory Part 1 of the exhibition project, here it is not craftsmanship but rather idea, context, and stance that take centre stage.
For the coming summer, three solo exhibition premieres are in preparation. On the one hand, works will be shown by two artists who are considered controversial, Christian Eisenberger (born 1978 in Semriach) and André Butzer (born 1973 in Stuttgart), while, on the other hand, the American artist K8 Hardy (born 1977 in Fort Worth) will be presenting her artwork on the lower level. In autumn, the German stage director and musician Schorsch Kamerun will demonstrate his curatorial talents through a large-scale and multilayered quest for and investigation of forms of the authentic in an exhibition titled "ordinary freaks - The Principle of Coolness in Pop Culture, Theatre, and Museum", a coproduction with the steirischer herbst. It is towards the end of the year that the annual exhibitions by the Styrian art associations are traditionally held. Yet here the focus is not on the curatorial selection of individual positions for an annual exhibition; instead, this exhibition series by the art associations aims to shed light on the diversity of artistic approaches while actively exploring a visually challenging thematic issue.
In the rooms of the lower level, Philipp Timischl (born 1989 in Graz) will engage his works of art in identifying loopholes in the mediatic reality of the cultural industry and in making experienceable the vestiges of subversive potential. In the series Raum D: Starting from Hystyria, various positions in contemporary art production of broader Styrian provenance will be shown. The series is already associated with the creation of a fanzine and in the year 2014 will contain contributions by Max Gansberger, Bernadette Moser, and Christina Tsilidis. In addition, the two projects S/GHT feat. Sissa Micheli: "pop_up_graz" and Werner Jauk with his "Disco Floor" (in cooperation with Springfestival Graz) will be hosted by the Künstlerhaus KM–. Also, the event series “An Art Day’s Night” will be running all year long on Thursdays with free admission.
With all of these activities devoted to carrying out the chosen priorities in content as a Hall for Contemporary Art & Media, the Künstlerhaus KM– is well on its way to establishing itself as sustainable on both local and international levels.