Vienna MuseumsQuartier Sets Course for Anniversary Year
Once, horses were housed on the grounds, then the baroque court stables were repurposed into the Messepalast. In the 70s, the first ideas for further transformation into a cultural center emerged. In June 2001, the MuseumsQuartier (MQ) finally opened, which has long been one of the defining cultural areas in Europe. This year, "around five million" people visited the complex, reported MQ Director Bettina Leidl on Tuesday. The 25th anniversary will be celebrated in 2026.
"Very Successful Year"
They look back on a "very successful year," said Leidl, the museums were "incredibly well visited." A major project for 2025 will soon be completed, namely "the permanent planting of the first trees and shrubs in the MQ." The ecological transformation is progressing, emphasized the director: "The first facade greening is thriving."
The design planning for a new home for the House of Austrian History (hdgö) in the MQ is complete, Leidl explained. "We are in the building application phase." They hope for a building permit by summer. Culture Minister Andreas Babler (SPÖ) had announced plans to review the relocation project by the end of the year.
"25 Years MQ" under the motto "Generation MQ" will be celebrated on June 2nd, among other events, with a program of performances, concerts, tours, and artistic interventions as an open-air event in the main courtyard and throughout the entire area. For an anniversary campaign - to be seen from spring on posters, social media, advertisements, etc. - photographer Elfie Semotan will portray 25 personalities who have shaped the MQ. In May, Lorenz Seidler, who has been documenting the events in the MQ with his camera since 2001, invites visitors to a memory trail designed by him.
Anniversary Exhibition Coming
On June 29, the day the MQ opened 25 years ago, the anniversary exhibition "Visions and Resistance - How the MuseumsQuartier Changed the City of Vienna" will start. As early as February 26, the group exhibition "The Material Show" can be seen in the MQ Freiraum. At the same time, a show by Milica Živković, Artist in Residence for two months, opens "in the small room". Since the beginning, up to 60 artists have been invited annually to work on the MQ premises, it was stated at the press conference.
The MQ Art Box will also be featured in the anniversary year, with a work by Aldo Giannotti addressing the use of the grounds by its visitors over the summer. On June 30, a "Children's Culture Tour" will take place again - Leidl called it "a special experience": "Come by with, without, or with borrowed children." The MQ Summer Stage has established itself as a "must" (Leidl), offering a daily evening program from May after the museums close.
MQ Director: "Major Cultural Policy Decision"
The MQ stands "for a community characterized by openness and dialogue," emphasized Leidl. The implementation was preceded by a "major cultural policy decision": "We were in competition with a possible shopping center, a hotel, and a police station." The winning project for the redesign was - like apparently all projects in Vienna - under media and political pressure, and a "reading tower" conceived as a widely visible landmark of the MQ was not implemented.
However, from the original plans of architects Manfred and Laurids Ortner, the idea remained "not to think of the MQ as a static monument, but as a living place". Today, around 1,000 people work in various functions on the premises, reported Leidl.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.