CHURCHES IN VIENNA



ART SINCE 1990

Contemporary art integrated into the architectural fabric of the Church building.

THEOLOGY

Each of the chapels, confessionals and other locations for the installation of artworks are drawn into dialogue with theology.

LITURGY AND SACRAMENT

Visitors are invited to make a form of pilgrimage through the church which can often correspond with aspects of liturgical ritual.


ABOUT KUNSTGLAUBE

KUNSTGLAUBE is an organisation which installs non-religious contemporary art in sacred spaces. Based in Vienna, Austria, this independent organisation seeks to offer people around the world the opportunity to experience the transforming power of art.

KUNSTGLAUBE exhibitions aim to engage visitors in a challenging and enriching experience involving:

ART
the way the body and sexuality have been re/presented in contemporary art

PLACE
religious perspective on the body and sexuality particularly as it is expressed through ritual and architecture

SELF
the complex tapestry of memories, mental associations and attitudes that make up the individual and shape one’s perspective.


This three-fold relationship between the artwork, viewer and space are essential to the location of meaning in the experience of contemporary art. The museum space supports a very different relationship with the art object and it should come as no surprise that the re-entry of art into non-museum spaces coincides with a shift in the way the body is positioned in contemporary art.
KUNSTGLAUBE's exhibitions involve a series of architecturally sensitive installations of contemporary art in the side chapels, confessionals and nave of the Church building. KUNSTGLAUBE seeks to open the church space to a critical dialogue between non-religious perspectives on what it means to be human and contemporary theology.
The works installed in churches both console and unsettle - aiming to disturb the comforted and comfort the disturbed. The Church space is traditionally reserved for contemplation and ritual action, providing refuge and consolation to people of all faiths and none. It must also be a challenging space that unsettles, provokes questions and gently exposes wounds and vulnerabilities. The art in KUNSTGLAUBE's exhibitions must sit on the thin and fragile line between consolation and disturbance - sensitively engaging with the architecture and the religious significance of the space.






WHY INSTALL CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE CHURCH?


One of the tasks of art is to remove us from the comfort of chatter (Das Gerede) and provocatively question commonly held values and widely accepted socio-cultural constructs. The transgressive rupture or erasure of these constructs in art can affect an awareness of our being in the world and deepen insight into who we are. In order to fulfil this function, art requires a particular reception that is often denied in the museum or gallery. The absence of ritual in the museum and distance between the viewer and artwork conspire against being confronted, disturbed or challenged by art.

The act of entering a church can be a stepping out of the world and into a space reserved for silence, involving the individual in an interaction with the architecture, art and quiet, where time slows down, the eyes having to adjust to the dim light, the lingering scent of incense filling the nostrils, inviting us to engage in gestures of submission and the result being deep consolation with attention drawn toward being present in the here and now. However, visiting a church isn’t always a consoling experience. A church can be foreboding, we can be distracted by elements that speak of the power structures of the religious institution. Symbols and images can seem irrelevant to our daily lived experience. And yet, there are moments when we might glimpse the potential of the space to speak directly to us in a very personal way. When we encounter contemporary art that speaks the language of our time, we are challenged to disregard this cynicism and discover that as much as these spaces are heavily bound to a specific religious tradition, they go deep into the human condition.

ACCESSIBILITY


Visitors to KUNSTGLAUBE exhibitions are offered assistance in finding meaning in the works installed throughout the Church. The works would never be "explained" to the viewer because this would undermine the potential for the experience to be uniquely meaningful to each individual. There are no information panels in the church, and visitors are encouraged to approach staff if they would like to know more about an artwork. A floorplan and information on the works are also available online and can be accessed while in the church.





MEET OUR TEAM




George Elsbett LC

Fr. George was born in London, grew up in Canada and has been living in Vienna for more than fifteen years. He is the theology consultant for all of KUNSTGLAUBE's exhibitions.


David Rastas

David has been living in Vienna since November 2012 and has been researching contemporary art in Churches since completing studies in art history and architecture. He is the curator for KUNSTGLAUBE's exhibitions.


KUNSTGLAUBE team

The planning and realising of each of KUNSTGLAUBE's exhibitions requires a huge team of supporters, volunteers and staff. The Votivkirche exhibition involved twenty-six members of staff and forty-seven volunteers.

Volunteers Needed!

Do you want to be part of our team of supporters, volunteers and staff?

Register as a Volunteer





INSTALLATIONS



SILVIA BISCHOF
Take a Look
PIPILOTTI RIST
Take a Look
KARMEN FRANKL
Take a Look
DOUG AITKEN
Take a Look
SHRINE FOR VICTIMS
Take a Look
OVERVIEW
Take a Look







Ben, London

Published Aug 30.

VISITOR COMMENT

"A profound exhibition that has opened my eyes and my heart.. For so many years I have found it difficult to enter the Church. I love these buildings but I am overwhelmed with a feeling of unease at the thought of being in a church. Until today, I have not known why this is so. I`d convinced myself that it was because of the people, because of the rules, because of the institution. But today, this exhibition and Theology of the Body that it so gently engages have helped me to see things more deeply, to see things as they really are. I have already been here several times since the exhibition opened. The first time I came here I must be honest and say that I had no idea what I was looking at. But these artworks have stayed with me, they keep coming back to me. The experience I`ve had with each of the artworks has remained with me. As a result, I am changed. I feel as though I have been reborn. The reason why I did not feel comfortable in the Church was because I did not feel comfortable with my sexuality. I was afraid that my sexuality was “disordered”, I was afraid that all that is available to “church people” was not available to me. But I have realized today, as I reflect once again on these beautiful, incredibly inspiring artworks, my soul, my spirit has not been invited into my body. I’ve been living a struggle between spirit and flesh but only in a way that I have perceived it as such. Through the relationship that each of these artworks have to each of the chapels, to this remarkable church, I have discovered that my body is not opposed, separate or at war with my spirit. As the video projection on the window invites me to reflect on spiritual and bodily desires, I realize that my desires, my deepest desires are longing for one thing. If these artworks can sit comfortably in this Church and I can feel comfortable here through the access these works provide, then my spirt can feel comfortable in my body. My spirituality can sit comfortably within my corporeality just as my sexuality sits comfortably for the first time ever, in the Church. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to discover the healing power of art and the possibility of deep transformation," Ben, London

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David Rastas

Published Aug 28.

CHAPEL OF INNOCENCE

The installation of Anders Krisár’s The Birth of Us (Boy) in the Votivkirche embraced the viewer through the interplay of an unfamiliar object in an extraordinary space, but also through the most pronounced contrast of scale, ranging between the scale of the nave and the scale of the polyester resin sculpture. The range of emotional responses to the symbolic consequences of adult hand prints pressed into a child’s torso was immense. The location of the hyper-real sculpture within a space activated by ritual, where the viewer is symbolically removed from the everyday, gave permission for a thoroughly subjective response. Through ritual, this separation from the everyday enables an unexpected encounter with the threshold state of the symbolic ritual world.



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KUNSTGLAUBE IS
BASED IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA


















THANKS FOR VISITING US



Contact Information

Palais Savoy, Johannesgasse 15/21, 1010 Wien
+43 680 2103 873
info@kunstglaube.at
@kunstglaube
KUNSTGLAUBE

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KUNSTGLAUBE - Copyright 2016