Mission statement

The Kunsthaus Graz presents international art from 1960 to the present. In doing so, it builds on a period when the city of Graz established an active and visible international presence through the trigon biennials, the steirischer herbst festival, Forum Stadtpark, the Grazer Kunstverein, Camera Austria, and the Neue Galerie Graz. These initiatives contributed to the recognition of transnational artistic developments, even beyond the Iron Curtain. Continuing this legacy, the Kunsthaus Graz renews geopolitical connections with neighboring countries and promotes avant-garde artistic positions and ideas.

The Kunsthaus Graz hosts exhibitions addressing pressing societal issues, initiates the creation of new artworks, and implements diverse educational projects. Furthermore, it fosters engagement with art, design, architecture, and the very practice of exhibiting. To realize its vision, the Kunsthaus Graz collaborates with a network of partner institutions – both locally and globally.

Programmatic Focus Areas:
 

• Societally relevant topics
• Internationally prominent artistic positions
• Conceptually driven exhibition projects
• International networking and collaborations
• Interdisciplinary connections with the collections and museums of the Universalmuseum Joanneum

The Kunsthaus Graz defines itself as a laboratory based on two core positions:
 

1. Through art, contemporary perspectives, practices, ideas, and considerations are developed, encouraging us to envision alternatives to the conditions in which we live. The exhibition spaces of the Kunsthaus challenge conventional exhibition practices and spatial organization, inspiring new curatorial approaches.
    
2. For the Kunsthaus Graz, as an experimental piece of architecture and a sculptural icon, it is time—20 years after its creation—to reimagine the building's use with visionary ideas, new insights, techniques, and possibilities. Its distinctive architecture, positioned between an organic appearance and a technological approach, also opens up questions about the future. A building that was constructed as an experiment 20 years ago now necessitates new considerations, particularly in terms of preserving or advancing the architecture.
    

• Challenging exhibition projects
• New site-specific productions
• Experimental, interdisciplinary, and multimedia art
• Sustainability and architectural developments

The unique spatial conditions and the fundamental orientation of the Kunsthaus Graz as an experimental art hall, with a focus on contemporary new productions, have led to the development of artistic works that can only be realized within the Kunsthaus since its opening in 2003. This has resulted in the creation of an in-house collection of site-specific works and a continuously growing archive. These holdings primarily include artistic works for the iconic BIX media façade and concepts for spatial installations. Together, the collection and archive illustrate the Kunsthaus Graz's strategies as a sustainable institution and trace its specific evolution since its founding.

In this way, the Kunsthaus Graz becomes embedded in the social fabric—not only as a guardian but also as a producer of particular perceptions and memories. Furthermore, it questions existing institutional formats and proposes hybrid forms and structures that reflect new roles for institutions as well as evolving societal demands placed upon them. By engaging with contemporary redefinitions and repositionings of the museum concept, and in line with the updated museum definition by ICOM*, the Kunsthaus Graz positions itself as an institution that challenges traditional museum formats.