Museum der Moderne – Exhibitions 2025 + 2026

Continuation of the successful concept “Free entry for children and young people”

Both locations of the Museum der Moderne Salzburg (Mönchsberg and Altstadt/Rupertinum) will continue to offer free entry for everyone under 19 in 2025. Almost 10,000 young people have already been able to experience modern art without admission costs.

The youth initiative ART*TEEN enables young people between the ages of 11 and 18 to get involved in the museum, develop their own projects and gain insights into everyday museum life under professional supervision.

Jacqueline Mesmaeker
7 March – 14 September 2025 // Mönchsberg
Presented by Generali

Jacqueline Mesmaeker (1929–2023) was a Belgian artist whose diverse oeuvre includes sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, and text. Her works reflect existential themes such as remembering and forgetting, as well as the importance of the subtle. Mesmaeker experimented with different levels of space, time and symbols and established literary and political references. She has taught at prestigious Belgian art universities and has been recognized for her work in recent years. A retrospective of her work, created in collaboration with the artist, who died at the end of 2023, will be exhibited at the Museum der Moderne Salzburg and is the first of its kind outside Belgium.

Bildwende. Era
History of Early Photography in Salzburg (1839–1878) Salzburg Museum Guest performance 14 March – 19 October 2025 // Rupertinum

The exhibition “Turning Point. Zeitenwende” offers comprehensive insights into the history of early photography in Salzburg, from the 1840s to the 1870s. It addresses Salzburg’s transformation into a bourgeois city of culture and shows how photography accompanied and shaped this process. Photographs of people, buildings and landscapes make the turning point visible, while at the same time highlighting the role of photographers and technical innovations. The exhibition highlights the importance of photography as a new medium of the bourgeoisie that revolutionized representation and curiosity.

Slice of Life. From Beckmann to Jungwirth
14 March – 19 October 2025 // Rupertinum

The medical officer Max Beckmann uses drawing as protection against the horrors of war and finds refuge in art after his military service. Art becomes an outlet to process inner conflicts and emotional injuries and opens up new perspectives for the future. The Museum der Moderne Salzburg brings together works that were created as a reaction to extraordinary life situations. This art not only reflects the social and political conditions of the time, but also deals with contemporary topics that are of great relevance in our world shaped by wars, climate change and social polarization.

With works by Max Beckmann, Margret Bilger, Lyonel Feininger, Greta Freist, Adolf Frohner, Richard Gerstl, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Martha aJungwirth, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Oskar Kokoschka, Alfred Kubin, Elsa Lasker-Schüler, Maria Lassnig, Marino Marini, Max Oppenheimer, Madame d’Ora, Florentina Pakosta, Arnulf Rainer, Rudolf Schönwald, Zbyněk Sekal, Sophia Süßmilch, Wilhelm Thöny

Nika Neelova
19 April – 15 September 2026 // Mönchsberg

Nika Neelova, a British artist from Moscow based in London, creates expansive works that challenge the notion of time. She combines history and stories of real and fictional people and describes her creative process as a cycle of decay and regeneration. Her works, created with found objects and materials, draw viewers into a poetic and exploratory dialogue about the non-linear nature of time. Neelova also integrates works by important artists, thus giving the collection objects from the Museum der Moderne and the Salzburg Museum a contemporary relevance.

Rob Voerman
Entropic Empire
April – 30 June 2026 // Mönchsberg

The works of Dutch artist Rob Voerman (1966, Deventer, NL – Arnhem, NL) present somber and aesthetic architectures, often showing famous examples of modernist architecture in a state of decay. These structures act like memories of unfulfilled social promises. Voerman’s buildings indicate that humanity lives in a future in which a return to the Garden of Eden has not succeeded and nature has not been conquered by science and technology. In this posthumanist world, biomorphic forms have emerged that are reminiscent of bizarre ulcers and penetrate the ruins of urban spaces. Human buildings seem shy and decay in their proximity to these new “masters”. A new consciousness has taken control, and humanity has become a nation of tinkerers, creating new dwellings from what is left. Voerman creates visions of a terrible and at the same time beautiful alternative future.

Moved. Video Art and its Political and Social Dimensions From VALIE EXPORT to Martha Rosler
3 October 2025 – 12 April 2026 // Mönchsberg
Presented by Generali

The exhibition at the Museum der Moderne Salzburg focuses on the political relevance of video art, which has had a significant influence on social and media developments since its invention in the 1960s. It presents important works by artists such as VALIE EXPORT, Harun Farocki, Bruce Nauman, and many others that illustrate the complexity and urgency of video art. The museum’s collections, including the Generali Foundation Collection and the Federal Photographic Collection, house around 500 video works and are among the most important holdings of historical and contemporary video art.

Body // Society
08 November 2025 – 15 March 2026 // Rupertinum

The human body is a central place of social processes and serves as an interface between the individual and society. It conveys both conscious and unconscious messages and is ideally an expression of freedom and self-presentation. At the same time, however, it becomes a mirror of social expectations. This tension between control and self-determination shapes both individual existence and interpersonal communication. Gestures, facial expressions and other forms of physical expression often have a deeper effect than words and transport universal messages into social contexts. The exhibition sheds light on the interactions between the body as a social symbol and its individual expressiveness and reflects on the role of society as both a passive observer and an active designer.

Dimensions of reality
7 November 2025 – 15 March 2026 // Rupertinum

The exhibition “Dimensions of Reality” inspired by Daniel Kehlmann’s “Measuring the World” examines artistic approaches to the scientific categorization and order of our environment. The title refers to mathematical and geographical dimensions and addresses the subjective interpretation of the world through art. The aim is to encourage visitors to engage in more depth with the artistic interpretation of scientific recording strategies in space, time and form. Works by artists such as Franz Bergmüller, Magda Csutak, Wolfgang Denk and many others will be shown.

Vibes & Vision: an immersive media loungeNovember 2025 – 15 March 2026// Rupertinum
Generali Foundation Study Centre
Presented by Generali Foundation

Vibes & Vision is an experimental media lounge that develops an immersive concept of space and perception. At the intersection of art and design, colors, shapes, and digital and analog displays merge into a multimedia experience that transforms space. The installation expands the media library of the Generali Foundation Study Centre and offers innovative access to the renowned art collections of the Museum der Moderne Salzburg. It presents outstanding works of new media and brings together significant Austrian and international positions in an engaging dialogue between technology, art, and perception.

Further informations >>

Exhibitions – Museum der Moderne Salzburg