Based on the concept of “system-relevant culture”, which has been discussed in many ways in recent years, the first exhibition by the new artistic director Günther Oberhollenzer aims to stimulate reflection on the value of art for our society.

In this very personal show, Oberhollenzer presents artistic positions that consciously lay claim to social relevance in their works, but he also asks artists how they see their role, what topics they are currently discussing. SYSTEMRELEVANT also sees itself as a programmatic position-fixing: What role and task can art spaces like the Künstlerhaus assume in our present? What can the art-interested public expect from a contemporary art exhibition?

The house, supported by the artists, is an open place of artistic experimentation and socio-political dialogue. The exhibition wants to reflect this and give visibility to a diverse art, which is located in the middle of society and also deals with pressing issues of our time in a very low-threshold way.

SYSTEMRELEVANT is a self-conscious statement for art, art makers and art space, but it wants above all to ask questions, to provide a stimulus for discussion, not to provide answers or even to fall into a justification dynamic. Eighteen artistic positions are represented in the show, of seven of which new works will be created for the exhibition. In this way – also in the sense of sustainability – expensive transports are to be avoided as far as possible and instead artists in Austria are to be supported with project commissions.