Beyond Tradition
The new calligraphy exhibition plays with one of the leading themes of the Capital of Culture year, tradition. The exhibition presents works by four internationally renowned calligraphers who are based on the centuries-old tradition of this art of beautiful writing, but who each transcend and develop it in a very individual way. Marina Soria from Argentina creates calligraphies whose color and texture are based on historical textiles from South America. She will exhibit these along with traditional weavings. Izzy Pludwinski from Israel will show calligraphy that draws from the tradition of Hebrew calligraphy and looks at it with a contemporary eye. Wissam Shawkat from Iraq, who now lives in the United Arab Emirates, shows works from his series Kalligraforms. He creates calligraphies with Arabic characters, which he then cuts up and reassembles. This results in fascinating new forms that are reminiscent of characters, but break them again and again through the intersections. American-born Brody Neuenschwander, who has lived in Belgium for many years, challenges the medium of calligraphy on several levels, approaching scriptural and conceptual art. He does not transpose existing texts, but creates his own in the process of writing, referring to current social issues. To this end, he combines his calligraphies with painting, typography, and integrates historical writings and prints in the form of collages. The four positions can be seen in four exhibition rooms on the upper floor of the Type Museum.
Contemporary bookplates
The Bartlhaus has an important collection of bookplates. These are small printed slips of paper that were originally pasted into books to indicate who owned the book. Later, the sheets became popular collectors’ items and renowned artists devoted themselves to the medium. For 30 years, the Bartlhaus has organized changing ex-libris exhibitions on various themes. In the year of the Capital of Culture, it would like to celebrate this small print form with a special event that represents an exciting sign of life of contemporary printmaking and would like to continue the history of the ex libris with ambitious current works. Approximately 20 artists will be invited to create an ex-libris for themselves in an edition of their choosing. Through the selection of artists, an attempt is made to gather as many different printmaking techniques as possible in the exhibition. One copy of each participating artist’s edition will be displayed in the exhibition at the Type Museum and will then become part of the museum’s collection.
Mailart at the Schriftmuseum
A participatory exhibition project draws on the genre of mailart.Different people are invited to write to the Bartlhaus and thereby deal with a cultural technique that is in the process of disappearing from our society.A selection of the mails is presented in the exhibition.
The museum as a laboratory
During the Capital of Culture year, the Bartlhaus, together with students from the Expanded Museum Studies program at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, would like to examine its permanent exhibitions and take a current look at them.The results of the critical discourse will be made visible in the exhibition space.
