About us

Salzburger Kunstverein, founded in 1844, is one of Austria’s oldest and most prestigious art associations for contemporary art. Housed in the city’s historic Künstlerhaus, Salzburger Kunstverein facilitates exhibitions and projects by artists that shape today’s art discourse and creates access for a range of audiences to art and its debates. The exhibition spaces of Salzburger Kunstverein span across 500 m². In addition, the house has 21 studios used by local artists and art initiatives as well as international guest residents, a library, and a restaurant.

Apart from an internationally oriented exhibition program, Salzburger Kunstverein organizes formats commonly used in relation to art-based knowledge articulation and/or communication in the present day: talks, publications, lecture-perfomances, symposia, screenings, workshops, and educational initiatives.

The core of the community of the Salzburger Kunstverein is formed by the approximately 500 members (with an increasing tendency), 300 of whom are artists, as well as the board and the advisory circle. Thus, Salzburger Kunstverein acts as a support structure for its members, who are invited to partake in the institution’s various initiatives.

The Salzburger Kunstverein was founded in 1844 by Prince-Archbishop Friedrich Schwarzenberg, artists and representatives of the civic society interested in art. It was one of the first such institutions in Austria. The interest of the population was so high that only two months after the founding of the association, it could be happily reported that 600 members had already registered. In 1885 the “Künstlerhaus,” housing studios and an exhibition area, was built in a style typical for the late 19th century. Nowadays it is the only building dating from the 1880s to be seen in Salzburg. 

The task of the Salzburger Kunstverein was to promote and sell contemporary fine art from the territories of the monarchy and neighboring foreign countries. Like all art associations the Salzburger Kunstverein was therefore a forerunner model of the private galleries.

Since 1992 the program has been conceptualized and curated by the respective director:
 

·         02.1992 Hildegund Amanshauser

·         04.1993-1995 Silvia Eiblmayr

·         1996-2004 Hildegund Amanshauser

·         2005-2013 Hemma Schmutz

·         2014-03.2023 Séamus Kealy

·         from 1.07.2023 Mirela Baciak

From 2024 Salzburger Kunstverein’s director is supported by an international advisory circle, whose members are experts in the field of contemporary art. The current members of the Advisory Circle are:
 

·         Henriette Gallus · Deputy Director bei Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) Berlin

·         Diana Campbell Betancourt · Artistic Director and Chief Curator of the Dhaka Art Summit

·         Jean-Hubert Martin · Art historian and curator, Paris, France