Lebt und arbeitet in Wien — Kunsthalle Wien, May 1–October 26
- The file
- The practical details Claire checked before this went into the index.
- When
- 1 May 2026 – 26 October 2026
- Where
- Kunsthalle Wien, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Wien — the 7th (MQ); also Karlsplatz, 1040 Wien — the 4th
- Price
- Standard Kunsthalle admission
- Indoor
- Contemporary Art
- Group Exhibition
- Museumsquartier
- Karlsplatz
- May–October
The show's title is its argument: not "Austrian art" but "art made by people who chose Vienna." For six months, the Kunsthalle Wien presents over 130 works across both its locations — the Museumsquartier and Karlsplatz — by 56 artists currently living and working in the city. Painting, sculpture, installation, photography, performance, film, video. The breadth is deliberate.
Curated by Daniel Baumann, Michelle Cotton, and Monika Georgieva, this is the fifth iteration of "Lebt und arbeitet in Wien" since 2000. It's also the most comprehensive survey of Vienna's contemporary art scene in years. Thirty-eight of the participating artists made new work specifically for this show. Many pieces are being seen in Vienna for the first time.
The Angle
The exhibition doesn't organize around nationality or institutional affiliation. It organizes around choice. These are artists who could live anywhere. They chose Vienna. That distinction matters. It shifts the frame from "What does Austria produce?" to "What does Vienna attract? What does it sustain?"
The show acknowledges the city as a gathering point — a place where artists from across national and cultural backgrounds work, exhibit, teach, and build community. The selection includes Ramesch Daha, Lazar Lyutakov, Angelika Loderer, Iman Issa, Diana Barbosa Gil, Henning Bohl, Shuvo Rafiqul, and many others. The work bears the traces of Vienna's particular pace, its indifference, its generosity to people willing to work slowly.
Supporting Materials
The Kunsthalle has published a new catalogue with commissioned essays on all participating artists, plus transcripts of conversations between curators, artists, and critics who live and work in Vienna — in German and English. Artist editions are produced and sold alongside the exhibition.
Also at Kunsthalle Wien Karlsplatz: Treitlstraße 2, 1040 Wien (the 4th). Same hours and admission.
More in Don't Miss
Long Night of Museums 2026
- When
- 3 October 2026
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Read the note →Waves Vienna 2026 — Gürtel, October 1–3
- When
- 1 October 2026 – 3 October 2026
- Where
- 8th · Josefstadt
Waves Vienna runs October 1–3 across 11 stages along the Gürtel — the annual festival and conference for emerging international music. This year the UK is the Guest of Honour, bringing a concentrated showcase of British emerging acts alongside 100+ artists from across Europe and beyond. The format is the point: not a mainstream festival but a discovery machine. The bands playing Waves in October are the bands you'll be following in two years. The Gürtel venues (Chelsea, B72, and others in the U-Bahn arches) are exactly the right rooms for this. The conference runs alongside, covering everything from sync and AI to new voices from Central and Eastern Europe. Tickets and full programme via wavesvienna.com.
Read the note →Miao Ying: Come, Sit, Stay — Belvedere 21, July 10–Oct 4
- When
- 10 July 2026 – 4 October 2026
- Where
- 3rd · Landstraße
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Read the note →