Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien

Dear students, dear colleagues,

Just in time for the Parcours, our annual exhibition of final works, we would like to inform you once again about current developments at the Academy. We will be opening the Parcours exhibition tomorrow, Tuesday, June 17, at 16 h. in the inner courtyard at Schillerplatz. We look forward to seeing you at the opening and congratulate all graduates!

As part of Academy | Art | Public Sphere, we have succeeded in launching the Demokratie leben initiative in cooperation with Gewista, which gives graduates of the Academy the opportunity to spread artistic and democratic political messages far and wide. The motifs will be displayed on the Citylights throughout the summer. The campaign draws attention to the shift in political culture, in which democratic and diversity policy achievements are increasingly being diminished. We look forward to seeing the contributions of our graduates throughout Vienna in the summer.

Two new professors will be joining us in the coming academic year: The Studio for Art and Time | Photography will be headed by Agata Madejska from October. Wendelien van Oldenborgh will take over as head of the Studio for Art and Intervention | Concept from the coming semester.

I am also pleased to welcome Sonja Artner as Head of the Department of Legal and Human Resources. Helma Bittermann will head the Department of Public Relations Office during Astrid Exner’s maternity leave. Welcome to all new employees!

We are delighted with the success of our new, design-oriented series Fine Companions. We published the first volume on the Cathrin Pichler Archive together with Mark Pezinger Books, and now also the second volume Dead Dove: Do Not Eat Perpetual Stew is out. In the text-based publication series of the Academy with Sternberg Press, volume 27 has been published in a newly designed format: Gender and Postsecularity in Knowledge Production and Visual Culture. The book presentation of volume 29 Sexual Dissidences. Ms. Diamanda's ‘Catalan Scenes’, Travesti Politics of Resistance, and Anti-canonical Knowledge will take place on Wednesday 25 June at 17:30 h. The call for the next volumes of the text-based publication series volume is open now. The funding for the selected projects includes editing, printing and layout costs as well as production support.

We congratulate Antonia De La Luz Kašik on winning this year's Birgit Jürgenssen Prize and Anna Orbanic on receiving the Cathrin Pichler Prize. We also congratulate Alina Sokolova and Željka Aleksić on winning the Erste Bank Art Prize.

You can find current calls on our submission system. We would also like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to our Alumni Club, here you can find information and events for graduates.

In addition to the Parcours, we would like to invite you to see the exhibition Considering the Collection & A Vista on Italy and France. The publication of the inventory catalog for the approximately 200 Italian, French and Spanish works in the Paintings Gallery is an occasion to focus on major Italian and French works. In addition, highlights from Bosch to Rembrandt and Rubens to Waldmüller will be on display as part of the Considering the Collection format.

Academy students, staff and an accompanying person have free admission to the art collections and all our exhibitions.

We would also like to use this opportunity to remind you to renew your multi-factor authentication until Monday June 23, otherwise you as employees will no longer have access to AkademieOnline. In the case of students, this affects their email inboxes; the transition to MFA will secure access and provide more storage space and larger attachments at the same time. A description on how to do this can be found in the internal area for staff members and students.

At the end of the semester, we invite you to join the Academic Graduation Ceremony on Friday 27 June at 10:30 h in the Prospekthof, Atelierhaus, where we will award the certificates and prizes.

At the beginning of the winter semester, the Semester Welcome will take place on October 6 at 15 h.

We hope to see you at the various events and wish you a good end to the semester and a wonderful summer!

Johan Hartle – Ingeborg Erhart – Werner Skvara