How to remember? – Dialogic guided tour with Bettina Habsburg-Lothringen and Jan Tappe

Exhibition Tour

Styrian Armory

Herrengasse 16, 8010 Graz

The works in Franz Kapfer’s exhibition, which takes place both at the Styrian Armory and at HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark, draw an arc from pre-Hispanic temples in Mexico to the early modern collection of the Landeszeughaus and contemporary production of weapons and equipment, such as handcuffs and protective armor for the whole body.

Kapfer’s colorful design may appear harmless at first glance, however, in contrast to their historical predecessors, the drawings show how sophisticated and high-tech the industrial production of weapons and protective equipment has become in our time. It is precisely this contrast that raises questions how we might consider a collection like the Styrian Armory within the heated debates of the present.

The main aim of this joint discussion is to explore how history can be told and appropriated. We experience the present day from our own personal perspective and often evaluate events individually. On a societal level, there is a need for places of negotiation, which institutions such as the Styrian Armory, but also HALLE FÜR KUNST hope to offer.

The mechanisms and narratives of historical sites such as the Styrian Armory may differ in style from exhibitions of contemporary art, but in terms of content they have more in common in their content than one might initially expect. Overall, the focus of contemporary art institutions is often society’s approach to culture and art, and in particular their methods of representation. Likewise, these themes can also be found in the collection of the Styrian Armory. It is precisely this parallel, along with Franz Kapfer’s site-specific intervention, which will be the subject of this evening’s guided tour.

Artists

Participating artists

Solo (among others): Kunst am Bau, Graz (2025), Club Hybrid, Graz (2021), museumORTH, Orth (2020), Museum Hartberg (2017), GPLcontemporary, Vienna (2016), Kunstpavillon Innsbruck (2009), Belvedere, Vienna (2008), Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Wörlen, Passau (2007), Salzburger Kunstverein (2006), Galerie Hohenlohe, Vienna (2006), Bétonsalon, Paris (2005), Galerie Hohenlohe, Vienna (2004), Neue Galerie am Universalmuseum Joanneum, Studio, Graz (2002). Shows (among others): Kyiv Biennale, Vienna (2023), EVN collection, Maria Enzersdorf (2022), Neue Galerie am Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz (2022), HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark, Graz (2021), Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz (2021), Sala Omnia, Bucharest (2019), Würtembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart (2019), EVN collection Plovdiv (2019), Kunsthaus Graz (2018), Zeta Art Center & Gallery, Tirana (2018), Belvedere 21, Vienna (2017), Biennale Gherdëina 5, Ortisei (2016), MUSA, Vienna (2016), GFZK, Leipzig (2015), Kyiv Biennial, Kyiv (2015), Kunsthalle Mainz (2015), University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong (2015), National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Nizhny Novgoradd and Moscow (2014), Leopold Museum, Vienna (2014), Secession, Vienna (2014), Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck (2013), Ludwig Museúm, Budapest (2013), Depo, Jewish baker and Austrian Cultural Forum, Istanbul (2013), Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz (2012), Busan Biennale, Busan (2012), MUAC, Mexico City (2012), Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck (2011), Museum of Contemporary Art, Cracow (2011), BWA SOKOL Gallery of Contemporary Art, Nowy Sącz (2011), im Rahmen von Franz West Extroversion, 54. Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2011)

is curator at HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark. Until 2020, he was program coordinator at Galerie Wedding – Raum für zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin. Prior to that, he worked at Hamburger Bahnhof — Museum für Gegenwart and Kunsthalle Wien, among others. After studying cultural studies in Hildesheim, he completed the master’s program Curatorial Studies – History – Theory – Criticism at the Städelschule and Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.

Dr. Bettina Habsburg-Lothringen is the head of the Department of Cultural History of the Styrian Armory, the History Museum, the Multimedia Collections and the Museumsakademie (Museum Academy) of the Universalmuseum Joanneum in Graz. She studied history and German philology at the University of Graz. Her areas of research and interest lie in historical museums, the social function of museums and exhibition design. The historian and cultural manager is on the advisory board of numerous museums, publishes regularly on cultural history and museology and is a prolific lecturer.