IT'S TIME TO TAKE A STANCE!
MAK INJECTS INSTABILITY.

Positions have become entrenched: whosoever is not with us is against us. To everyone who has shall be given; and from him that has not even that he has shall be taken away from him. Such deadly assurances are barbaric and useless. Culture means openness for the possible. And art is the name of the opening.

MAK provides continuing insecurity.
Spaces of insecurity are essential contributions to art and culture. Today, such spaces are more important than ever. We at the MAK want to make these "spaces without compromise" visible and experienceable by breaking up the armor and rendering the walling transparent. The MAK regards itself as an art production lab and a research institution of social knowledge. Investigating contemporary art production and participating in it relies on stringently conveyed traditions. The MAK takes on this task by establishing, extending, attending to, and doing scientific research on extraordinary collections of applied and contemporary art.
MAK opens an access to the possible.
The MAK is a central interface of global communication. With its manifold international cooperation structures that are always matched to the particular objective, it links the concrete and the universal. Its present partners include the Shusev State Museum of Architecture (MUAR) in Moscow, the Neue Galerie in New York, the Berlin Festival, the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, and the MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles with its R. M. Schindler Artists and Architects in Residence Program.
Together with major artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, researchers, scholars, craftsmen, and (fashion) designers, the MAK keeps exploring possibilities beyond the status quo. It fathoms modes of human perception and the development of discursive forms concerning them. Doing so aims at an unprejudiced comprehensive understanding of reality. This is the only way the MAK is able to fulfill what is expected from it: to constitute a place of release.
MAK breathes new life into the interplay of forces.
If the museum is to remain a place of encounter between art and the public, it has to offer more than just an ensemble of objects. It must unfold a space where constellations emerge in which we are able to reflect and realize our possibilities.
The MAK, together with artists, its MAK NITE and MAK ACADEMY programs, as well as its exhibitions, symposiums, and lectures, strives to preserve or regain basic qualities of art - especially where these seem to get lost in view of today's almost barbaric cultural scene. The MAK takes a stance for openness, dynamics, and the freedom to experiment.

Peter Noever, CEO and Artistic Director of the MAK

Give the stance its place, the place its dynamics.
The MAK responds to the changed prerequisites for cultural activities by providing definite landmarks in its own development. The museum both as a venue and as a system of thought has to tackle new tasks. These are the most recent projects and measures in and around the MAK:

– The realization of the CAT project through the reconfiguration of the antiaircraft tower in Vienna's Arenbergpark will see the creation of a center for contemporary art.
– With new accents as regards both profile and appearance, James Turrell's light installation on the façade of the building on Ringstraße and Vito Acconci's redesign of the MAK Design Shop will contribute to the redefinition of the house.
– The pursuit of progressive museological strategies provides a basis for the efficiency of the museum as a necessary projection surface for the artists' self-reflection.
– Free admission on Saturdays since 1 February 2002 guarantees unhindered access to the latest social knowledge concentrated in the MAK for everybody interested.

Feb. 2002