Death Positive
Because Dying Happens
Anatol Knotek, Bye, 2021 
(c) Patrick Sturm 
VIDEO.SCKRE, Untitled (detail), 2026 
Medulla Textiles / Johanna Mark, Fancy Death, 2025 
Monika Pichler, oiseaux de paradis, 2020 
Katharina Gruzei, Every Shade an Image 9 (Detail), 2020 
Timm Ulrichs, The End, 1970/16.05.1981 
Gregor Graf, St. Margarethen Cemetery, 2026 
The first vehicle used by the Linz Municipal Funeral Service, 1920ies 
Stefanie Moshammer, Taking a Bath with Jesus aus der Serie Grandmother said it’s okay, 2018
We all die. Finally, one thing we can count on to have in common. And yet, we like to push death away – until suddenly, it is there. Close. Then the questions begin: What happens to the body? Who decides? How do we want to be buried? What brings us comfort?
Death Positive is not just an exhibition title, but a movement: it brings death into the heart of life and advocates for an open, informed approach to dying, death and grief. Because talking about dying has never killed anyone. Humour can help, too: it creates distance when something comes too close and makes it possible to talk about the inevitable.
The exhibition looks at bodies, rituals, law, religion, medicine and business, at farewell, grief and remembrance. From folding coffi ns to mushroom urns, from heart-stab to bucket lists, from funeral feasts to vinyl burials, it shows just how diverse our relationship with death can be.
Historical and contemporary artworks, installations, video interviews and objects from the collection and on loan take up the Memento Mori – the reminder of our own mortality. Linz, too, has its stories and places of death. Death Positive invites us to refl ect, empathise and pause. Because ultimately, it is not only about the dead, but about relationships, memory and life after loss.
Death is not the opposite of life. It is right in the middle of it. So let’s talk about it before it’s too late.
Curator: Klaudia Kreslehner
Exhibition Design: MOOI Design
Opening
| Date | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 22.10 | Opening: Death Positive. Because Dying Happens Death is a very lively companion. Sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, often unexpected and at times longed for. And yet we prefer to push it far away from us. This exhibition brings it right into the center – gently, confrontationally and with humour and raw honesty. For we all have to die. We celebrate life with “Totensemmeln” from Bäckerei Brandl and listen to the heavenly sounds of Blonder Engel. Free admission | 7:00 pm–9:00 pm |
Artists
Marina Abramović, Leo Adler, Chiho Aono, Branko Andrić, Siegfried Anzinger, Ludwig Aspöck, Valentin Bernauer, Renate Bertlmann, Gerhard Brandl, Dietmar Brehm, Klemens Brosch, Wilhelm Camerloher, Theresa Ulrike Cellnigg, Paul Flora, Norbertine von Bresslern-Roth, Bernhard Fuchs, Olia Fedorova, María Galindo, Beate Gatschelhofer, Franz Glaubacker, Gregor Graf, Birke Gorm, Katharina Gruzei, Ursula Guttmann, Hermann Haider, Heinrich Heidersberger, Karl Hayd, Inga Hehn, Franz Kapfer, Karl-Heinz Klopf, Anatol Knotek, Auguste Kronheim, Paul Kranzler, Alfred Kubin, Kurt Lackner, Maria Lassnig, Rudolf Leitner-Gründberg, Fini Leonor, Danitza Luna, Andrea Lüth, Haruko Maeda, Mary Mayrhofer, Johanna Mark / Medulla, Sonja Meller, Stefanie Moshammer, Mujeres Creando, Maria Nalbantova, Fanny Newald, Margit Palme, Monika Pichler, Georg Pinteritsch, Roswitha Potocnik, Remo Rauscher, Patrick Raynaud, Franz Sedlacek, Lou Seidl, Severin Standhartinger, Ingeborg Strobl, Mathilde Ter Heijne, Oswald Tschirtner, Timm Ulrichs, Vildan Turalić, Vincent van Gogh, VIDEO.SCKRE, Anton Watzl
Interviewpartner:innen
Mario Wagenhuber (Director of Funeral Services & LINZ AG Cemeteries), Verena Brunnbauer and Nicole Honeck (Death Positiv Association, funeral directors), Melina Gold (artist), Julia and Martin Dobretsberger (Managing Directors of DOBRETSBERGER Funeral Home, Master Funeral Directors), Clemens Frauscher (Director of St. Barbara Cemetery), Robert Anzinger (Team Leader, Cemetery Operations at St. Barbara Cemetery), Rupert Langer and Marion Almeder (Institute of Pathology, Kepler University Hospital)
Collaboration
The exhibition was created in collaboration with: Association Death Positiv (Verena Brunnbauer and Nicole Honeck) / LINZ AG Friedhöfe / Linz-Mitte Parish, the Innovation Center for Church Pastoral Care, and the Art Department of the Diocese of Linz / St. Barbara Cemetery / GRIEFYARDS: Celine Vanhoutte and Rosa Braber
GRIEFYARDS
As part of the exhibition, the Nordico Stadtmuseum Linz is collaborating with the international art and writing initiative GRIEFYARDS. This participatory project invites people to write anonymous letters to deceased relatives or loved ones — as a personal expression of remembrance, grief, and connection.
More about the project
Events GRIEFYARDS
| Date | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 01.11 | Writing Letters to the Dead Griefyards Writing Day with Poet Anja Grundner. | 1:00 pm–4:00 pm |
| Thu 26.11 | GRIEFYARDS: Vernissage & Storytelling Performance An art and writing initiative that creates space for grief, love and remembrance. Featuring a storytelling performance and music. | 6:00 pm–8:00 pm |
Guided Tours
| Date | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 25.10 | Public guided tour of the current exhibitions at the Nordico City Museum Duration: 60 minutes, max. 25 people, guided tour ticket: €4 (plus admission) No registration required (“first-come, first-served”) | 2:30 pm–3:30 pm |
| Sun 01.11 | Public guided tour of the current exhibitions at the Nordico City Museum Duration: 60 minutes, max. 25 people, guided tour ticket: €4 (plus admission) No registration required (“first-come, first-served”) | 2:30 pm–3:30 pm |
| Thu 05.11 | Let’s talk about Death Guided tour of the exhibition with curator Klaudia Kreslehner, a chance to try out the coffin, followed by a discussion at the “Sargbar” with Nicole Honeck and Verena Brunnbauer. | 6:00 pm–8:00 pm |
Talks & Field Trips
| Date | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 23.10 | Death Café at the Domcafé in Linz “I Miss You” Grief Support Café with Nicole Leitenmüller, crisis counselor for the Diocese of Linz. Meeting place: Domcafé, Domplatz 1, 4020 Linz | 4:00 pm–6:00 pm |
| Thu 12.11 | Field Trip: What the Body Reveals About Death Guided tour of the Department of Pathology with Rupert Langer and Marion Almeder (Institute of Pathology, Kepler University Hospital) Meeting point: Corner of Gruberstraße and Weißenwolffstraße, in front of the KUK campus | 5:00 pm–6:30 pm |
| Fri 11.12 | Cemetery Rumors: Tour and Punch at Barbara Cemetery There are many rumors about death. On this walking tour, we’ll discuss myths and facts about grief, dying, and, of course, life. Meeting place: Barbara Cemetery, main entrance | 4:30 pm–6:00 pm |
| Sun 21.02 | Field Trip: The Final Journey Mr. Hofrat and Stadtmuse (aka AustriaGuides Wolfram Starczewski and Casimir Paltinger) set out to explore the traces of death in Linz. Meeting place: Nordico ticket office | 3:00 pm–5:00 pm |
| Fri 12.03 | Field Trip: Between Life, Memory, and Farewell Tour of Linz’s underground cemeteries: the crypts of the Elisabethinen, the Ursuline Church, and St. Mary’s Cathedral, as well as the installation *Before I Die*. The tour concludes at the Domcenter. With: Martina Gelsinger and Martina Resch, Diocese of Linz; Meeting point: Nordico City Museum Linz; In cooperation with the Linz-Mitte Parish, the Innovation Center for Church Space Pastoral Care, and the Art Department of the Diocese of Linz. | 2:30 pm–4:30 pm |
| Wed 17.03 | Field Trip: What the Body Reveals About Death Guided tour of the Department of Pathology with Rupert Langer and Marion Almeder (Institute of Pathology, Kepler University Hospital) Meeting point: Corner of Gruberstraße and Weißenwolffstraße, in front of the KUK campus | 5:00 pm–6:30 pm |
Accompanying Program
| Date | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 21.01 | Speeddating with Death Three ingredients: people interested in the topic of death and their own mortality, the card game “Sarggespräche,” and a stopwatch. People discuss questions about death and life with one another in a simple, engaging, and lighthearted way. With the Death Positiv association | 6:00 pm–8:00 pm |
| Thu 11.03 | Last Aid Course An initiative by the Upper Austria Hospice Association to help people come to terms with serious illness, (impending) death, and grief: as a way to help others and oneself, in the knowledge that all our lives are finite. This also involves making arrangements and decisions, alleviating suffering, and saying goodbye. | 5:00 pm–9:00 pm |
Family & Children
| Date | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 30.10 | Día de Muertos. The Festival of the Dead We’re using the evening before Halloween as an opportunity to celebrate life: a parade featuring paper skeletons and colorful skulls that you can take home. For children and adults | 3:00 pm–5:00 pm |