Vor den Vorhang (Before the curtain)

Digitization of Important Holdings from the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Theatermuseum

A research project within the framework of "Strategie Kulturerbe digital".

The Collection of Drawings of the Theatermuseum contains a culturally and historically important collection of figurines – the technical term for costume designs in the theatre sector – from the Vienna court theaters, i.e. the Altes Burgtheater on Michaelerplatz and the Kärntnertor Theater (court opera), which comprises around 4,500 objects.

The aim of the project is to completely process the collection, for which around 700 data sets still need to be created and around 2,100 objects still need to be photographed.
In the course of this work, the already processed and the newly recorded parts of the collection will then be published online together, in the online collection of the Theatermuseum and subsequently on Europeana and in the Kulturpool.

Rosalia Chladek's Bequest - A Scientific Inventory and Review

The article which will be published in the anniversary publication on the occasion of "Theatermuseum - 25 years at the Palais Lobkowtiz" describes the history of the museum's collection around Josef Kainz and the relationship of the enthusiastic amateur photographer and his contemporaries for this medium and the topic "actors and photography". Themes like "Actor photography and marketing" or "Residential photographer vs. picture postcard industry" are being touched. Plenty of so far unknown details about Josef Kainz' biography have been discovered.

Grotesque! Monstrous Arts and their Return

International conference, 8-9 October 2020

How can the grotesque figures by Lodovico Ottavio Burnacini (1636-1707) be interpreted? What is the meaning of 'grotesque' in the arts and how can its aesthetics be understood in our present time?

The exhibition 'Grotesque Comedy' and the rediscovery of this master's exquisite and iconographic drawings are taken as an opportunity to stimulate a multidisciplinary discussion on the topic of the 'grotesque' and its historic and contemporary reception.
The tree chapters of this international conference focus on the grotesque in the early modern period, grotesque practices in the arts and the 'grotesque' as a category of reflection.
The project is a cooperation between the Institute of Culture Studies and Theatre History, the Department for Theatre, Film and Media Studies and the Theatermuseum.

Rosalia Chladek's Bequest - A Scientific Inventory and Review

The article which will be published in the anniversary publication on the occasion of "Theatermuseum - 25 years at the Palais Lobkowtiz" describes the history of the museum's collection around Josef Kainz and the relationship of the enthusiastic amateur photographer and his contemporaries for this medium and the topic "actors and photography". Themes like "Actor photography and marketing" or "Residential photographer vs. picture postcard industry" are being touched. Plenty of so far unknown details about Josef Kainz' biography have been discovered.

Rosalia Chladek's Bequest - A Scientific Inventory and Review

Josef Kainz and photography

The article which will be published in the anniversary publication on the occasion of "Theatermuseum - 25 years at the Palais Lobkowtiz" describes the history of the museum's collection around Josef Kainz and the relationship of the enthusiastic amateur photographer and his contemporaries for this medium and the topic "actors and photography". Themes like "Actor photography and marketing" or "Residential photographer vs. picture postcard industry" are being touched. Plenty of so far unknown details about Josef Kainz' biography have been discovered.

The Magic Space

Research results on stage design of the 18th to the 21st century

The publication about the stage model collection at the Theatermuseum Wien gives insight of the development of European stage models from the baroque stage with its impressive coulisse technique to the complex designs of contemporary theater scenes.

No opera too long with you...

Richard Strauss, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Alfred Roller. Commented edition of their correspondence.

The commented edition of the to date unpublished correspondence of Alfred Roller with Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal allows a fresh view of the development and performing practices of famous works of the opera and theatre literature.