Autumn has arrived in full and has brought the rain with it. And that’s exactly what I had when I went to Vienna a couple of weeks ago: rain, lots and lots of rain. Because of that I had to change my plans in order to spend more time indoors than outdoors. Not a problem in Vienna, as it’s loaded with museums where you can spend hours visiting and diving into culture while keeping yourself dry. Great deal!
Let’s begin with MUMOK, an abbreviation of MUseum MOderner Kunst (which translates to Museum of Modern Art) Foundation Ludwig Vienna, situated right in the city center. You can get off at Volkstheater if you take the U3 and head to the MuseumsQuartier, one of the most ambitious projects in the world when it comes to well… museums. It is basically this old royal stables transformed into a significant “cultural” mall filled with a couple of galleries, museums, cafés and restaurants. Once you get into the MuseumsQuartier it will be easy to recognize the MUMOK building. From the outside it already reflects what you can expect from the inside: the breaking of common concepts. The building is this giant gray block right in the middle of the mall, no windows, no accessories, only the stairs on the right side where you can get inside of it.
MUMOK entrance
The museum organizes regular exhibitions (you can check online), but it also holds a permanent collection that includes works of artists such as Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso just to name a few. Those should be on the lowest level. The works are spread around 4 levels, being that you start from the top and you go down, but when I was there two of them where closed to make room for a new exhibition. Expect also to be shocked. Like I mentioned before, it is not only the building that breaks concepts, but also its art. So don’t be surprised if you see video pieces that includes men being spanked in a class room or a close-up of a peeing penis (that should be Viennese Actionism).
Look up from the entrance
But not all of it will be hardcore… well, that also depends on the exhibition. If it’s Paul McCarthy, good luck! When I was there I saw Interstices, a varied media exhibition that will be showing until 7th March 2010, and Thomas Demand – Presidency Embassy. An amazing photography exhibition of places that look like real “crime scenes” but are in fact… well, I shouldn’t spoil it, you try to figure it out. Unfortunately this latter one ended in 29th November 2009. Their latest that I didn’t get to check (pun intended) is Gender Check and it is about Femininity and Masculinity in Eastern European Art. Sounds interesting and it’s showing until 14th February 2010.
Exhibition room being prepared
The museum is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00 except on Thursdays when it’s open until 21:00. That is something to look for in Vienna, many museums stay open until late in different days of the week, in case you want to go for a late visit. Photography is not allowed in the museum like in most of them except in the entrance hall, as you can notice from the photos that follow this post. The entrance, the stairs and the elevators are also worthy of some attention, although they remind me of the interior of a space ship. I swear I could almost see Ripley jumping out of an air vent while machine-gunning a Xenomorph in the elevator. The regular entry fee is €9 and typically includes the exhibitions.
Mrs. WinterBOTTOMS (giggle)
Before or after you go and check the museum, the building also holds a library and a café above the main entrance. In fact I went to the café first. The café is conveniently named MUMOK Café and besides a hot drink on a cold rainy day you can also have some snacks such as a Croque Monsieur or a Salad. It is open from 10:00 to 18:00 every day. To follow the theme, the café also presents a comfortable and modern piece of interior design with black leather couches. From the looks of the people I saw there while having my tea, I assume it’s a perfect place for any kind of meetings. They also have a small terrace, but not for rainy days. And be careful with their tea cups! They have those double glass tea cups where you can hold the cup and it’s not hot, but the tea is. Yeah, my tongue and I learned that the hard way.
MUMOK Café
MUMOK
Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
MuseumsQuartier
Museumsplatz 1, A-1070 Vienna
Phone: +43 1 525 00
Daily: 10.00 a.m.–6.00 p.m.
Thu: 10.00 a.m.–9.00 p.m.
Dear Ricardo,
thank you for your great posting on the MUMOK! as a Viennese, I was really touched and pleasantly surprized to read it on this blog. The Cafe at the MUMOK is my favourite place to have a brunch with friends.
Just one small remark – it is allowed to use camera in the museums in Vienna, just no flash.
Thank you Anna,
We still have a couple more posts to do about Vienna, we hope to publish them soon.
A remark on your remark, even if photography was allowed, the works at the museum should always be seen live, so no biggie. Also if you have some other place that you would like to share with us, we would be happy to feature it on the Saturday Guest Post. Thanks.