“Traces” of Central European Modernism
In fact, a great number of innovative designers—in addition to the well-known Moravian-born opponents Josef Hoffmann and Adolf Loos—came from the territory of today’s Czech Republic. So the era of Viennese modernism thus saw the longstanding reciprocal relationship between Vienna, Bohemia, and Moravia remain a fruitful one: many architects and designers who had come to Vienna for their professional training went on to play a significant role in the dissemination of modern design in their home regions. The Permanent Collection rooms on the “Vienna 1900” theme document these mutual effects, making an important contribution towards underpinning a broader understanding of Central European modernism’s development.
The MAK will also be conveying this approach outside its own walls: with support from the EU, the museum will be spending the next few years developing a Central European cultural route between Vienna and Brno entitled “Traces.” This route will link the region’s most influential modern-era buildings and also include locations of significance to Viennese intellectual life around 1900. In order to accomplish this, the MAK will be using its cooperative relationship with the Moravian Gallery at the Josef Hoffmann Museum (run jointly since 2006) in order to have the cultural region of Moravia–Lower Austria–Vienna once again be known as an influential source of modernist impulses.
Curator: Christian Witt-Dörring
Publication
The
MAK/GUIDE published on the occasion of the reinstallation of the
MAK Permanent Collection VIENNA 1900 is edited by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, with contributions by Rainald Franz, Sebastian Hackenschmidt, Barbara Karl, Peter Klinger, Kathrin Pokorny-Nagel, Elisabeth Schmuttermeier, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Johannes Wieninger and Christian Witt-Dörring. German/English, 224 pages, 100 color illustrations, 24 x 12,5 cm, paperback, MAK Vienna / Prestel Verlag, 2013. Available at the
MAK Design ShopMAK GUIDE DIGITAL
Experience the MAK by listening! Explore the MAK with the new digital MAK Guide. Audio pieces and high-resolution images offer you an entirely new access to one hundred fascinating MAK objects and their stories. Free of charge and without download on your mobile at
guide.MAK.at