SALZBURG.- As the eighth installment in the series of exhibitions of works from the collections in partnership with the Generali Foundation, the exhibition Folklore. A Controversy with Works from the Collections looks at questions and conflicts between tradition and renewal in art. Following this premise, the exhibition features about fifty works by twenty-eight artists that address the subject of “folklore” in its various and changing facets. Works from the museum’s own holdings as well as the Generali Foundation Collection and the Austrian Federal Photography Collection, which are on permanent loan to the museum, illuminate the topic in its complexity and from different perspectives. In a world of globalization and migration, identity and traditions take on new significance—particularly in a place like Salzburg, where discussion of progress and modernization frequently has to contend with traditional points of view. “We are deliberately focusing on a subject that is contrary to the profile of a museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art, but that in my opinion has never been more relevant. The research and questioning of the nature of folklore by artists is in line with my endeavors to stimulate discussion on the development of the city and our society without reference to prevailing traditional points of view,” explains Sabine Breitwieser, director of the Museum der Moderne Salzburg, who is organizing the exhibition together with Antonia Lotz, Generali Foundation Collection Curator.

The exhibition looks at “folklore” as an umbrella term for cultural phenomena characterized by tradition and historical memory, and particularly their diversity and changeability. It features works from the early twentieth century until the present day, ranging from illustrations from Grimm’s’ Fairy Tales by David Hockney and ideologically charged photographs from the 1930s to post-war reflections on local identity and confrontations with the colonialist view of foreign cultures. Possible contemporary forms of “folklore” and mass culture is also being discussed. “The term ‘folklore’ has a historical, old-fashioned or kitsch connotation. And yet as a designation for traditional knowledge and actions it has always been an expression of human behavior,” says Antonia Lotz, curator of the Generali Foundation Collection. Knowledge and action based on social tradition has long been an essential component in relation to discussions about nationalism, industrialization, colonialism and modernization. This is currently evident in the new and controversial debates on the concept of guiding culture. The exhibition staged at the Mönchsberg venue on level [2] reflects these themes in its investigation of language, tradition, folk costumes and fashion, landscape and history, mass culture, indigenous knowledge and cultural artefacts.

A recently acquired work group by Kathi Hofer as well as a generous donation of drawings by the Bulgarian artist Nedko Solakov are being featured in Folklore. A Controversy with Works from the Collections. These new additions are combined with hitherto unseen works, rediscoveries, and highlights from the collections of works of internationally celebrated artists like Lois Weinberger, Valie Export or Erwin Wurm to create a stimulating presentation.

With works by Anna Artaker / Lilla Khoor (1976 Vienna, AT / 1978 Budapest, HU), Kader Attia (1970 Dugny, FR—Berlin, DE), Peter Paul Atzwanger (1888 Tisis / Feldkirch, AT—1974 Innsbruck, AT), Lothar Baumgarten (1944 Rheinsberg, DE—Berlin, DE), Norbert Brunner / Michael Schuster (1959 Lienz, AT—2014 Vienna, AT / 1956 Graz, AT), Jean Dubuffet (1901 Le Havre, FR—1985 Paris, FR), VALIE EXPORT (1940 Linz, AT—Vienna, AT), Harun Farocki (1962 Novi Jicín, now CZ—2014, Berlin, DE), Heinz Frank (1939 Vienna, AT), Dan Graham (1942 Urbana, IL, US—New York, NY, US), Rodney Graham (1949 Abbotsford, BC, CA—Vancouver, CA), Hans Walter Hannau (1904 Mödling, AT—2001 Miami, FL, US), David Hockney (1937 Bradford, GB—London, GB, and Los Angeles, CA, US), Kathi Hofer (1981 Hallein, AT—Vienna, AT), Rainer Iglar (1962 Rottenmann, AT—Salzburg and Vienna, AT), Kurt Kaindl (1954 Gmunden, AT—Salzburg, AT), Joachim Koester (1962 Copenhagen, DK—New York, NY, US), Rudolf Koppitz (1884 Schreiberseifen (now Skrbovice), CZ—1936 Perchtoldsdorf, AT), Stefan Kruckenhauser (1904 Munich, DE—1988 Vienna, AT), Michael Mauracher (1954 Klagenfurt, AT—Salzburg, AT), Martha Rosler (1943 Brooklyn, NY, US—New York, NY, US), Nedko Solakov (1957 Cherven Bryag, BG—Sofia, BG), Ingeborg Strobl (1949 Schladming, AT—2017 Vienna, AT), Umbo (Otto Umbehr,1902 Düsseldorf, DE—1980 Hannover, DE), Lois Weinberger (1947 Stams, AT—Vienna, AT), Erwin Wurm (1954 Bruck an der Mur, AT—Vienna and Limberg, AT)

Curated by Sabine Breitwieser, Director Museum der Moderne Salzburg, and Antonia Lotz, Generali Foundation Collection Curator