The Rupertinum and Its (Hi)Stories
40 Years — Many Voices

The Rupertinum, the Museum der Moderne Salzburg’s original home and now one of its two venues, is turning forty! People from different generations share personal recollections they associate with the museum and bring its history to life. They recall special experiences, unforgettable encounters, moving exhibitions, and glimpses behind the scenes. Their contributions illustrate the museum’s significance for the residents of the City and State of Salzburg, for artists, visitors, members of the museum’s team, and participants in its diverse art education programming. The retrospections and anecdotes are complemented by interesting facts, selected works of art, and fascinating archival materials. The exhibition sheds light on the museum’s identity and evolution, but it also looks into the future. Gathering a range of perspectives, including critical views, it presents a lively scene where visitors are encouraged to contribute their own memories as well as their wishes for the future.

With the Generali Foundation Study Center—a multifunctional research and discussion space on art from classical modernism to current developments—the Generali Foundation is an important player in the Rupertinum. In 2016, the Study Center was established at the Rupertinum on the initiative of the then director Sabine Breitwieser and according to plans by the architects Kuehn Malvezzi.

The Study Center incorporates the libraries of the Generali Foundation and Museum der Moderne Salzburg, currently comprising about 48,620 titles as well as archive, text, and media holdings. The Generali Foundation library currently includes around 16,620 monographs, exhibition catalogues, and international art journals. The center provides an extensive overview of events in the art world since the 1960s, with a particular focus on contemporary art.

The Generali Foundation also houses one of the most important collections of media art from the 1960s onwards, focusing on experimental film and video art, political film, as well as feminist and performance-based video works. It includes numerous films and videos by such artists as VALIE EXPORT, Dan Graham, Harun Farocki, Andrea Fraser, and Martha Rosler. The media library in the Study Center makes a substantial part of these films and videos accessible to researchers and all interested visitors via media terminals. In addition, significant events that took place at the Generali Foundation in Vienna since the 1990s can likewise be viewed.

Exhibition spaces on the Rupertinum’s second and third floors are another part of the Generali Foundation Study Center. The exhibitions, drawing from the Generali Foundation’s collection and archive holdings, are frequently dedicated to practices which are of great significance to artists but receive less attention from museums, such as photography and artists' books. The Study Center also focuses on collaborative and participatory exhibitions, which are developed in collaboration with various departments at Salzburg’s universities, their tutors and students.

A further space is additionally available, the extravagant Franz West Lounge. In 1996, Franz West designed furniture sculptures for the former business premises Habig, Vienna 4, together with Heimo Zobernig (tables), Peter Kogler (fabric design), and Marcus Geiger (color selections), which, on initiative by the Generali Foundation, became the art café-restaurant Brasserie Engländer, but today no longer exists. The ensemble of designed furniture has now found a new use in the Franz West Lounge, a space inviting visitors to linger.