Image: Vienna Künstlerhaus, DSGVO Impressum Barrierefreiheitserklärung
Vienna Künstlerhaus is turning its archive inward this summer with 'COMMON STORY', an exhibition that surveys the history of the Künstlerhaus Vereinigung’s exhibitions and programs since the association was founded in 1861. The show, installed in the upper floor and running from 3 July to 27 September 2026, uses historical and current posters to trace more than 150 years of artistic and institutional development while also pointing toward the future role the house wants to play.
According to the Künstlerhaus, the project is built around selected posters and archive materials that open a view onto past programs, artistic positions and defining moments in the life of the house. The exhibition presents the poster not only as an information tool but as a visual record of changing artistic and social ideas. In the institution’s own description, these posters chart the development of visual culture from Jugendstil to contemporary art and show how exhibition graphics can reflect wider aesthetic and political currents.
The exhibition also highlights the Künstlerhaus as a place of networking and public exchange. Its curatorial text emphasizes periodic and international exhibitions, and it presents the house as a node in a larger artistic community rather than as a closed institutional history. The project was curated and realised by the entire team of the Künstlerhaus Vereinigung, with the exhibition image credited to Leila Dizdarević. Entrance to the exhibition is free.
'COMMON STORY' is framed as both retrospective and forward-looking. The institution says the exhibition considers how the Künstlerhaus understands itself today: as an open house for existing and new members and for a diverse public, and as a place of encounter, participation, exchange and shared authorship. The accompanying text also stresses that the house seeks to remain contemporary, multicultural and intergenerational, and invites visitors to engage actively with the exhibition through an interactive mediation programme.
That programme includes an opening on 2 July at 19:00 in the upper floor, followed by a guided exhibition tour on 24 July at 16:00 with Nikolaus Domes, the Künstlerhaus archivist, and Julia Kornhäusl, head of art education. Additional accessible mediation events are scheduled for 21 August and 28 August, both in the upper floor.
On 21 August at 16:00, 'KUNST FÜR DIE SINNE' offers a guided tour of 'COMMON STORY' for blind and visually impaired visitors. The session lasts 60 minutes, begins with a meeting point in the foyer from 15:45, and requires registration by email or phone. On 28 August at 15:00, 'NEW VISIONS' brings blind, sighted and visually impaired participants together for an interactive tour and workshop with artist Sarah Iris Mang, in cooperation with Rund Punkt 11. The 120-minute session ends the month’s programme of public engagement around 'COMMON STORY' at Karlsplatz 5 in Vienna.
