a ta s t e o f
Taking its point of departure in the encounter between history and present, tradition and innovation, this exhibition conceptually seeks to provide an overview of some of the diversity of more than 100 years of Austrian design and interaction between material, form, function, aesthetics, meaning, and lifestyle. Thus, all objects on display are intended for everyday usage. The objects on display are arranged in an interactive way according to three characteristic Austrian lifestyle settings: The Viennese Coffee House (Kaffeehaus), Living & Cooking and Wine & Water. All three settings epitomize a uniquely Austrian symbiosis between design, lifestyle and culture. Art and design survive and develop through creative interchange be-tween artist and audience, between the artists themselves as well as between yesterday, today and tomorrow. ”To every age its art. To art its freedom”. The credo of the Vienna Secession movement, founded in 1897 as a reaction to the conservatism and historicism then prevalent in Austrian art, architecture and design, still echoes through the streets of the Austrian capital. The creative challenge to tradition initially posed by Secessionists like painter Gustav Klimt, architect Otto Wagner and designer Josef Hoffmann has since become a defining trait of Austrian design, art and architecture. It is therefore appropriate that the playful and original encounter between history and the present should run like a red thread through the present exhibition. Today, the Secession building is not only one of Austria’s most photographed structures but also an important centre for art and architecture, an exhibition space where shows by contemporary artists have been contributing to the public discourse on art for more than a hundred years.
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The Swedish audience will surely recognize the well-known work and legacy of Austrian-Swedish designer and architect Josef Frank, key figure in the ”Swedish Modern” and represented in this exhibition by two of his early interior design objects. Frank’s work has inspired a range of contemporary Austrian designers. For instance his textile designs have been used by Bernard Rudofsky and POLKA. Intercultural connections between Austria and Sweden in design and architecture can also be traced in the work of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Erich Boltenstern and Oswald Haerdtl, among others. Claesson Koivisto Rune’s vase series Vindobona from 2010 is the latest addition to this tradition. Another important, although less well-known connection between Austrian and Swedish design is Viktor Papanek. A strong advocate for socially and ecologically responsible designs of products and tools, Papanek