Opening HYPE AND HIGH CULTURE

75 Years of the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) in Posters

Together with the MAK and in close collaboration with the Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (Vienna City Library at City Hall), both known for their spectacular poster collections, the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) will feature a selection of their most impactful campaigns drawn from over a thousand posters. Some of these posters subtly reflect the zeitgeist, others will immediately spark memories among the city’s denizens: about unforgettable theater scandals, heated debates, and astonishing artworks most of all. Controversial urban social happenings such as the 1976 Arena occupation resonate just as much as iconic moments like Falco’s 1985 opening night concert. The poster timeline illustrates the changing times and design languages, but chiefly the evolution of the Vienna Festival into its current form and visual identity. As part of the exhibition, the entire archive of the Vienna Festival posters will be made digitally accessible: graphical experiments, visionary design drafts, and epically humorous campaigns.
Tue, 21.4.2026 7 pm9 pm
MAK – Museum of Applied Arts
A joint project of the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna and the MAK
In cooperation with Wienbibliothek im Rathaus
Coordination: Peter Klinger, Deputy Head, MAK Library and Works on Paper Collection


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Admission to the opening is free.
A ticket is required to visit all the other exhibitions (e.g. HELMUT LANG).
mak.at/tickets


 
 

Calendar

Followed by: Discussion panel “The Museum as a Toolbox”
Reinstallation VIENNA 1900