Vienna Symposium will focus on Central European Women in Art

NEWS: 09 01 2024

Following the SEFO conference series, the Vienna Museum of Applied Arts is organizing the International Symposium CROSSING BORDERS: Central European Women in the Arts. This is loosely inspired by the transnational career of artist Felice Rix-Ueno (1893-1967), which she began in Vienna, Austria, and successfully continued in Kyoto, Japan. Discussions will examine gender issues and the representation of cultural exchange in the works of Central European artists and designers exhibited in museums around the world. Inspired by various folk arts or by redefining their relationship to their “home cultures,” these professional women have carefully chosen their artistic models as part of the formation of new cultural languages. What themes and media did they use to successfully cross borders and/or were transferable to other cultural contexts? In which professional networks did they operate?

The symposium will address the changing view of archival materials and collections available to curators and art historians to tell the stories of Central European designers and artists. Lectures will explore the multifaceted careers of women who crossed borders and reflect on phenomena of cultural change, processes of integration, and complex identities. Our aim is to discuss the role of museums in presenting these rich biographies in the context of a stimulating public debate.