How Mumok’s New Director Plans to Make Museums Feel Alive Again
In a March 27, 2026 Artnet News interview, curator Fatima Hellberg—newly appointed director of mumok in Vienna after leading the Bonner Kunstverein—outlined a program aimed at making museums feel “alive” while balancing preservation with public activation. Hellberg said her first exhibitions at mumok will launch in June 2026 and will foreground sensory experience and historical continuity rather than purely discursive framing. Her opening program includes Kate Millett’s newly acquired 1972 installation Terminal Piece as an anchor for the collection display, plus an installation by scenographer and costume designer Anna Viebrock and an exhibition/open studio/event space by Tolia Astakhishvili. Hellberg referenced mumok founder Werner Hofmann’s call to place “the monument alongside the document” as a guiding principle for mixing established works with emergent practices.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Museums Unearthed, Biennales in the Crosshairs