Education
Austria
In 2004, “Kontakt” was chosen as the name of a new collecting, exhibiting, research, and education platform dedicated itself to important artistic developments in the countries of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe that had not yet been adequately anchored in art history. Kontakt chose as a programmatic focus the historical watersheds of 1968 and 1989 that had so profoundly changed the definition of art.
The works held by the Kontakt Collection not only belong to the most important artistic output from Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe but also tell of histories, of political, cultural, and social conditions, of transnational networks and communities of solidarity. In this, they document a search for new modes of perception and action in which artists of the Eastern European neo-avant-garde took the liberty of non-adherence to state-determined artistic doctrines.
In 2025, Kontakt increasingly focuses on educational projects. More information on the following projects and how they can be taken advantage of can be found on the Kontakt website.
Kontakt Visits
Kontakt has begun holding conversations about Eastern European art at art academies, universities, and schools. The idea is to connect academy, university, and school students worldwide with Kontakt’s vast knowledge and extensive network where the art of Eastern Europe is concerned.
Alternative Educational Projects
Many of the artists of the Eastern European neo-avant-garde represented in the collection perceived alternative educational projects as being key to societal change. In light of this experience, the transdisciplinary educational program WHW Akademija has been developed in Zagreb by the curators’ collective WHW (What, How & for Whom) in collaboration with Kontakt.
University Projects
In cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and ERSTE Foundation, Kontakt initiated a course at the Academy that points out new pathways of teaching and learning based on the experimental pedagogical approaches of Eastern Europe’s neo-avant-garde. Following Adam Szymczyk, the curators’ collective WHW (What, How & for Whom) teaches from 2024 to 2026.
Media Library
The media library of the Kontakt Collection, comprising more than 200 works of video art and experimental film, constitutes a crucial component of the collection and probes the technical boundaries of the respective media. Key works by Geta Brătescu, VALIE EXPORT, Tomislav Gotovac, Ion Grigorescu, Sanja Iveković, KwieKulik and Paul Neagu are represented on equal footing with contemporary productions by artists such as Paweł Althamer, Maja Bajević, Anna Jermolaewa, Roman Ondak, and others.
