Generali Foundation: 30 Years
In Dialog with 1918 1938 1968

The Generali Foundation was established in 1988. Since then, it has organized over a hundred pioneering exhibitions, produced just as many publications, and, most importantly, built an extensive and singular collection. It supported creative talents early on who articulated critical perspectives on society and broached political issues in their works. Like the artists whose œuvres it nurtured, the Generali Foundation broke new ground; it was in many ways ahead of the art world of its time. Its wide-ranging activities and especially its collection-building efforts have earned it worldwide acclaim and made it a fixture of the Austrian and international contemporary art scene.

Held on occasion of the Generali Foundation's thirtieth anniversary, the ninth presentation of art from the collections at the Museum der Moderne Salzburg undertook a dialogical engagement with the three watershed years we commemorate in 2018. What do we make today of the events of 1918, 1938, and 1968 and what followed? After the end of World War I, the Republic of Austria is proclaimed in November 1918. In March 1938, the country is annexed by Hitler's Germany in the so-called "Anschluss." Thirty years later, the protesters of '68 take to the streets; among their demands are an end to the Vietnam War, equal rights for women, and sexual freedom.

Each of these three very different moments in history precipitated radical changes in society and politics that artists responded to—or, in some instances, anticipated. The museum invited two historians to compile statements reflecting a range of views on the events of 1918, 1938, and 1968. Forming a ribbon that runs along the walls throughout the galleries, they and the works of art selected made for a polyphonic panorama or scenario inviting debate.

Künstler:innen: Max Beckmann, Renate Bertlmann, Günter Brus, Otto Dix, VALIE EXPORT, VALIE EXPORT / Peter Weibel, Harun Farocki, Marcus Geiger, Bruno Gironcoli, Dan Graham, Renée Green, Hans Haacke, Anselm Kiefer, Klub Zwei, Július Koller, Käthe Kollwitz, Jarosław Kozłowski, David Lamelas, Dorit Margreiter / Mathias Poledna / Florian Pumhösl / Hans Küng, Walter Pichler, Florian Pumhösl, Isa Rosenberger, Martha Rosler, Carolee Schneemann, Allan Sekula, Martin Walde, Franz West, Heimo Zobernig