Florian Bieber
Society in motion? Protest movements in Serbia
Video
Since November 2024, there have been almost daily protests in Serbia against corruption, for an independent judiciary and functioning institutions. This was triggered by the collapse of a poorly built station canopy in Novi Sad, in which 16 people died and many were injured. On March 15, 2025, the protests reached their peak with over 300,000 participants in Belgrade. The movement is supported by students, teachers and other civil society actors. The reactions of Western countries and the EU have so far been rather restrained for geopolitical and economic reasons. In his lecture, Prof. Dr. Florian Bieber explained that the authoritarian structures in Serbia can still be traced back to Milošević’s rule and were further consolidated under President Vučić. He placed the protests in a historical context and emphasized the authoritarian structures under Vučić, who undermines democratic processes by controlling the media and being close to Russia and China.
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Prof. Dr. Florian Bieber
is a political scientist and contemporary historian with a research focus on contemporary history and the political systems of Southeast Europe, in particular democratization, European integration and nationalism. Bieber studied history and political science at Trinity College (USA), the University of Vienna and the Central European University in Budapest. After working at the European Center for Minority Issues in Sarajevo and Belgrade and as a Lecturer in Eastern European Politics at the University of Kent, he has been a professor at the University of Graz since 2010 and heads the Center for Southeast European Studies. He has been a visiting professor at Cornell University, New York, the Central European University, Budapest, and the Universities of Bologna, Sarajevo, and Belgrade, as well as currently at the College of Europe in Tirana.
He also coordinated the Balkans in Europe Advisory Group (BiPEAG). His recent publications include Pulverfass Balkan (Ch.Links 2023), Debating Nationalism (Bloomsbury 2020), and The Rise of Authoritarianism in the Western Balkans (Palgrave 2020).
More contributions
Michael Krebber in conversation with Sandro Droschl
Video
As part of the exhibition A.rtificial I.ntrospection O., Michael Krebber speaks with Sandro Droschl about his artistic practice and his engagement with the writings and conceptual models of Oswald Wiener.
Michael Krebber in conversation with Sandro Droschl A.rtificial I.ntrospection O.
Exhibition Tour
Slide show
The exhibition A.rtificial I.ntrospection O. (A.I.O.) explores questions of thought, perception, and subjectivity at the intersection of introspection, cybernetics, and artificial intelligence. Its point of departure is the work of the Austrian writer, cognitive psychologist, and cybernetician Oswald Wiener (1935 – 2021), whose genuine thinking since the 1950s critically navigated between these fields while systematically resisting institutional appropriation.
Slide Show A.rtificial I.ntrospection O. Dr. Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer
Susanne Wenger’s painting between Africa and Europe
Video
In her lecture, art historian and curator Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer examines Susanne Wenger’s work as a transcultural Gesamtkunstwerk that bridges European modernism and Yorùbá ritual practice, creating a new sacred aesthetic that merges art, ritual, and cultural boundaries.
Brigitte Borchardt Kathy Rae Huffman
FROM CYBERFEMINISM
UNTIL NOW
Video
Kathy Rae Huffman’s lecture traces the evolution of cyberfeminism since the 1990s: it connected women in the digital sphere, challenged existing power structures, and presented examples — from VNS Matrix to contemporary digital activism — that highlight critiques of platform corporations, AI cultures, and global inequalities.
Kathy Rae Huffman Xol Meissner
Concert
Video
New York-based artist Xol Meissner — the alter ego of composer Mauro Hertig — has transformed the HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark into a hypnotic soundscape of extraordinary intensity with his haunting music, which oscillates between contemporary classical and avant-garde rock.
Xol Meissner Karin M. Schmidlechner
Styrian women during and after National Socialism
Video
In her research and in the volume Aus dem Blickfeld (Out of Sight), co-edited with Heimo Halbrainer, Karin Maria Schmidlechner demonstrates that the lived realities of Styrian women during the Nazi era and the postwar period were diverse and ambivalent. Hence, she broadens the scholarly discourse on their daily lives while simultaneously deconstructing common narratives such as that of the conformist woman or the so-called “rubble woman.”
Karin M. Schmidlechner Eva Ursprung
The Art of Surfacing
Slide show
With the exhibition The Art of Surfacing, HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark presents the multifaceted work of Austrian artist, musician, and curator Eva Ursprung, who was awarded the Honorary Prize of the Province of Styria in 2024. Her cross-media, feminist, and socially critical approaches revolve around the element of water as a metaphor for change and political and ecological processes.
Slide show Eva Ursprung Susanne Wenger
Àdùnní Olórìṣà
Slide show
Susanne Wenger gilt als eine zentrale Künstlerin Österreichs nach 1945 und als frühe Wegbereiterin des Surrealismus. Ihr Œuvre, das Skulpturen, Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Drucke und Batiken umfasst, überschreitet ästhetische Kategorien und verbindet Kunst, Spiritualität und Mythos.
Slide Show Susanne Wenger