Testimonials Visiting Curators Vienna 2022
We would like to express our sincere gratitude for joining The Visiting Curators Vienna residency in 2022. In such brutal and challenging times marked by atrocity of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we humbly appreciate the chance for having an open discussion not only about vibrant and inspiring Viennese contemporary art scene but also talk about global issues affecting EU. With personal warmth of Verein K team, their high level of professionalism, great organisational skills and extraordinary knowledge about local artistic community and cultural institutions such research residency programmes have, without a doubt, a profound value for creating a save environment for knowledge exchange and intercultural dialogue.
– Anna Ilchenko and Andrey Parshikov, Russia
It has been truly informative to participate in the Visiting Curators Vienna Program. For ten days, the Verein K team has offered a wonderful insight into the Viennese contemporary art scene, provided by Verein K’s extraordinary knowledge of the city, curators, artists, off-spaces, institutions and museums. The personalised itinerary was arranged with lots of care, and the connections made will hopefully lead to new collaborations between the Hague, the Netherlands, and Vienna for years to come. The three organisers, Jelena, Dejan, and Klaus have done a great job at bringing together an international group of curators in the program, leading to insightful discussions and perspectives, with whom it also been a pleasure to meet. There is clearly a lot of talented artists living and working in Vienna. The program has successfully highlighted some of Vienna’s broad artistic landscape, that makes me want to come back to explore further soon. A big thank you to Verein K, the participants and all the people I’ve had the honour to meet!
– Johan Gustavsson, Netherlands
I, Koi Persyn, hereby express my extreme gratitude for the opportunity to explore and research the Viennese cultural landscape together with the skilled team of Verein K and the other international curatorial visitors. It was a great pleasure to meet a diverse multitude of interesting artists and cultural workers in a context, perfectly shaped by the expertise of Verein K. I am truly inspired by the various encounters and visits to organisations and spaces that I experienced during a fruitful period of diving into the artistic scene of Vienna. Therefore, with great pleasure, I can announce that I will curate an solo-exhibition for Komplot in Brussels with the Austrian artist Michaela Schweighofer, whom I had the pleasure to meet during the programme in Vienna. Through the collective conversations with the other professionals and the in-depth knowledge of Verein K, I was able to get a exciting understanding of the rich and dynamic cultural fabric of the city.
Verein K has a quite unique structure which offers you an elaborately curated program formed according to your / your project’s needs. This intense ten-day residency grants access to various places including artist studios, museums, institutions etc. (always with a guided tour by the curator/director) and allows you to get to know numerous artists, curators and their stories via both individual and collective meetings. Hereby you get a chance to have an overall idea about the diverse Viennese contemporary art scene in a very short period of time.
I am very happy to be a part of this program and I believe it will foster many other encounters and collaborations in the near future. I am grateful for all the exchanges I had with my peers Anna, Andrey, Johan and Koi. And of course, a warm, big thank you to Dejan, Jelena and Klaus for their hospitality and care.
Verein K is an independent arts and cultural organization from Vienna, founded in 2017. Verein K focuses on projects in the field of contemporary art and culture connecting diverse cultural and social interests: critical approaches to contemporary art, creating curatorial platforms as well as enabling innovative cultural practices including diverse social groups.