Info Details

2005 - Nach Rokytnik - exhibition MUMOK

The presentation of the evn collection marked the beginning and the highpoint of MUMOK’s Year of Collecting. With this project, the museum hoped to highlight its own initiative in establishing a current and lasting debate on the present and future of the public and private collecting of contemporary art.
The exhibition title derived from one of the first works aquired for the collection, a series of photographs by Jitka Hanzlová in which the artist portrays her home village in the Czech Republic. The attempt of the artist to approach her “own” history in photography corresponds to the idea of exploring the self-reflexive profile of the collection itself in this exhibition.
Among the multiplicity of issues and media represented in the evn collection, one focus is on the relation between art and the public. The question of identity and its construction in a media-dominated world thus represents a central emphasis within the collection. The exhibition shows that professional collecting on a private basis is an undertaking with public relevance. Contemporary art can be seen as an essential resource that allows to reflect critically on the museums situation and to place it in a broader context.