Alma M. Karlin Alone Around the World 16 September 2021 to 18 January 2022 About the exhibition About the exhibition The writer Alma M. Karlin was born in 1889. Her birth town, Celje in modern-day Slovenia, was then dominated by the rift between Slovenian and German speakers and nationalism movements in the Habsburg Empire of the time, engendering a political narrow-mindedness that Karlin spent her entire life trying to escape. She studied several languages in London and embarked on a world...

and her Mid-century Travel Photography in South America In this edition of Deep Dive Tuesday, former guest researcher Nora Carolina Pearce will introduce the Viennese photographer Edith Hittmair (1934–2011) and a selection of her photographs from South America. Although over one thousand of her photographs and postcards are in the Weltmuseum Wien photography collection, Hittmair has been practically unknown to us up until very recently. Drawn to capturing Indigenous people and locals,...

Colonialism on the Window Sill 28 May 2025 to 25 May 2026 This exhibition shines a spotlight on ten plants that have been favourites of European living rooms and balconies for centuries, though their natural habitats are outside the continent. These plants share a history with our ethnographic collections; some of them joined the objects on long naval voyages to reach Europe and the museums. Beyond the demand for medicinal plants and crops (nowadays ‘cash crops’ that are cultivated on a grand...

cook café & bistro cook café & bistro The exceptional creativity and character of the cook café & bistro will captivate the senses of all visitors in the Hall of Columns, which is accessible also without a ticket. Seasonal and regional products take centre stage at the cook café & bistro: our chefs only work with the freshest of ingredients and accept nothing but highest quality. Treat yourself to our exquisite delicacies prepared with love and passion in comfortable atmosphere before, during,...

Workshop - The European Qurʾān The Qur'an played a key role in the emergence and creation of the European self-image. In Europe, numerous testimonies from the period between the 8th century and today reflect a common coexistence. The Holy Scriptures of the Muslims left deep traces in a changing Europe. The Koran was both the subject of polemics and a source of poetic inspiration. How does the Qur'an serve as a bridge between cultures and eras? The workshop The Qur'an and Europe? ...

Information Weltmuseum Wien - It's all about people The Weltmuseum Wien presents itself as a venue for connecting cultures and people in unique fashion. As such, the museum is dedicated to the cultural diversity of humankind and strives to document the diverse historical ties between Austria and the world in its collections from all around the globe. As the very heart of the museum which has been reopend in October 2017, the permanent exhibition has been redesigned from the ground up. Strung...

Experience Thailand Eine Fotoreise von CARE-Projekten in Thailand 6 December 2018 to 27 February 2019 In cooperation with CARE Austria, the Weltmuseum Wien presents “Experience Thailand”, a collection of selected works by photographer Alexander von Wiedenbeck. This photo series is the outcome of a successful collaboration between the engaged artist and CARE over the past few years. © Alexander von Wiedenbeck, www.alexandervonwiedenbeck.com About the Exhibition About the Exhibition His pictures...

Dust & Silk Steppe and Silk Roads 16 December 2021 to 3 May 2022 The exhibition Dust & Silk. Steppe and Silk Roads takes visitors on a fascinating journey through the past and the present, exploring connections between these historical routes and the “New Silk Road”. Silk textiles and ikat fabrics, tea, and “wild apples” made their way to Europe along these legendary historical trade routes, which also Marco Polo to travel across Asia. Nevertheless, there has never been such a thing as the Silk...

Dark Pairing Since 20 May 2021 The postcolonial view is the view of empathy and the desire to understand; (…) The postcolonial view recognizes and recognizes hybrid cultures and identities. - Paul Michael Lützeler © Wie-yi T. Lauw About the exhibition About the exhibition This recognition of the hybrid as well as the development of colonial cultures and history is the theme of T. Lauw in Dark Pairing by interweaving plants in a fine-meshed network. Images of cultural inscription and overlay...

Who’s Wearing the Pants? 25 March 2025 to 1 February 2026 In its major special exhibition 2025, the Weltmuseum Wien takes a journey through 3,000 years of trouser history from around the world and uses this symbolic item of clothing to pose the question: ‘Who wears the trousers?’ The large annual exhibition shows treasures and many a bizarre find from the collections of the Weltmuseum Wien, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Theatermuseum as well as loans from Austrian museums and...

Andersrum [vice versa] An artistic intervention by Veronika Szücs Veronika Szücs worked as a Fellow at the Weltmuseum Wien between December 2019 and November 2020 as part of her kültüřgemma! scholarship and prepared the alternative museum guide “Andersrum” – a graphic novel with protagonists from the display collection. © Veronika Szücs Graphic-Novel-Guide Graphic-Novel-Guide The graphic novel with a total of forty-eight pages portrays an imaginary walk through thirteen exhibition halls of the...

Dispersed and Connected Artistic Fragments Along the Steppe and Silk Roads The project collects and explores narrations, images and imaginations, fragments and artistic expressions of Mongolian belonging along old and new steppe and silk routes, which link dispersed and connected biographies, artistic traditions, cultural monuments and memories. These fragments will be joined in an artistic exhibition at the Weltmuseum Wien, a film montage and a concomitant scientific-artistic fieldwork book....

Extinctions!? An exhibition as part of the project TAKING CARE 23 February 2023 to 2 April 2024 In light of the ongoing climate crisis and its impact on biodiversity, questions and fears of endangerment and loss are at the centre of public discourse. A sixth major extinction event is expected in the course of the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is the age in which humans become the most important factor influencing the biological, geological and atmospheric processes of the Earth. Zemi belt,...

Magical Opening of the new Weltmuseum Wien The time had finally come on 25 October 2017: the new Weltmuseum Wien opened its doors after three years of reconstruction – with a spectacular show curated by André Heller at Vienna’s Heldenplatz. More than 7,500 people came to celebrate with us and to light a beacon of tolerance, respect, cooperation. There was a great run on the Museum both after the show and for the Open House on 26 October 2017 – with around 9,500 visitors. Artists from all across...

Japan in the Meiji era The collection Heinrich von Siebold 13 February to 11 August 2020 The Meiji era covers the period from 1868 to 1912 in Japanese history. This was a time when the feudal state was developing into a modern super power, when Japanese society was changing and opening up to the world. This still-unknown country aroused great interest in Europe. Heinrich von Siebold, the son of the doctor and famous researcher on Japan, Philipp Franz von Siebold, travelled to Japan as a teenager...