What the Fem*?
Feminist Perspectives from 1950 to the Present

11.11.22 to 28.05.23

Exhibition view, What the Fem*?, 2022
Exhibition view, What the Fem*?, 2023
Exhibition view, What the Fem*?, 2022
Exhibition view, What the Fem*?, 2023
Exhibition view, What the Fem*?, 2022
Exhibition view, What the Fem*?, 2023

Feminism! A word that is hotly debated, ignored, suppressed and defended – in short, a concept that polarises. Feminism is both a cause for thought, a variety of theories, a political movement, a package of demands and practices as well as a stance, a lifestyle, many lifestyles. In a nutshell, there is no one type of feminism This exhibition offers an opportunity to engage with all these topics, to empathise, gain new perspectives, but also to speak out, enter into a dialogue, pose questions, find answers and formulate new questions.

The museum is opening to show “feminisms” in all their variety: At the beginning of the exhibition, individual areas of the walls will initially remain empty. By the end of the exhibition, these empty spaces will be filled through a process involving invited activists as well as the public. In the process, it is possible that the original museum narrative is challenged or interrupted. Thus, the results of the five working group meetings scheduled are incorporated every few weeks – possibly also for the purpose of deconstruction.

In six themed spaces, contemporary artistic positions together with historical artefacts guide the viewer through a lively discourse. In the spotlight are Austrian history, particularly Linz, with facts, feelings, experiences, subjective realities and prevailing attitudes. The exhibition also sees itself as an opportunity to encounter other perspectives with curiosity and to challenge fixed attributions.

Artists

Elisa Andessner, Comfort Arthur, Laurien Bachmann, Ingrid Bartel, Linda Bilda, Jules Boho, Eva Bosch, Sarah Braid, Julia Bugram, Gloria Dimmel, Astrid Esslinger, VALIE EXPORT, April Fowlow, Beatrice Frasl, freundinnen der kunst, Margit Greinöcker, Ursula Guttmann, Conny Habbel, Renate Hinterkörner, Rebekka Hochreiter, Dagmar Höss, Verena Hofer, Susanne Jirkuff, Birgit Jürgenssen, Judith Kaltenböck, Jakob Lena Knebl, Paul Kranzler, Auguste Kronheim, Viktoria Krug, Dariia Kuzmych, Maria Lassnig, Melanie Ludwig, Ahoo Maher, Gerlinde Miesenböck, Melanie Moser, Silke Müller, Margit Palme, Marga Persson, Monika Pichler, Dorothea Priglinger, Lisa Reiter, Annerose Riedl, Gerlinde Ruprecht, Stefanie Sargnagel, Helga Schager, Katja Seifert, Talin Seigmann, Sophia Süßmilch, Adriana Torres Topaga, Iv Toshain, Violetta Wakolbinger, Coco Wasabi, Betty Wimmer

Museum under de/construction

With the exhibition “What the Fem*?”, the Nordico City Museum dared an exciting museum experiment, inviting activists, women’s*, LGBTQIA+ initiatives and associations to actively participate in the exhibition and to fill empty spaces.

Women’s group Zu-Flucht – a jointly designed space

The “Linzbüro im Wandel” on the second floor was and will be designed by the women’s project 2:0 of the Zu-Flucht association during the course of the exhibition. A space in which refugee women make their voices visible and invite visitors to reflect on who speaks in the city, whose voices and languages are heard, and how we can learn to listen to each other.

Fem*Stamp Pass 5+1

Get your stamp pass, with which you can visit the exhibition a total of six times and experience the development process. Those who have stamped six times will receive a booklet on the “What-the-Fem?* exhibition” which will be presented in the fall as part of the show The City Lab (10.11.2023 to 05.03.2024).