In the Middle Ages, Lake Constance and its influents were at the heart of an economic area from the Alpine passes in Graubünden to the Rhine Falls. Cities formed alliances, agreed upon a uniform currency system, the local people were active in farming, craftsmanship, mining and even developed trade relations with far-off cities such as Barcelona and Bruges. The travelling exhibition of archaeological specialist institutions and museums around Lake Constance with its 150 high-profile finds offers insights into medieval life (approximately 1000 until 1500 A.D.) in the area around Lake Constance.

To mark the museum’s 200^th anniversary, the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum showcases a selection of around 100 objects from Vorarlberg – including paintings of Angelika Kauffmann and Gebhard Flatz. How did these works of art find their way into the collection of the Federal State of Tyrol? In Vorarlberg, a museum association was not formed until 1857. Until then, the Ferdinandeum felt it had the responsibility to also collect and document works of art on Vorarlberg’s behalf. By the way, not only works of art but plants, animals and graphic reproductions as well.

In co-operation with the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum

Mysterious tools, seal handles and badges, everyday objects or pictures – time and again objects are found in the museum’s collection about which little is known. vorarlberg museum is now showing 116 of these objects in a small exhibition and asking visitors to help identify them.

The State of Vorarlberg’s collection of cultural goods, which is made up of some 180,000 objects, goes back to the year in which the museum association Vorarlberger Landesmuseumsverein was founded. In former times a multitude of large estates used to fall to the museum. Unfortunately, the estates were not always accompanied by substantial background information. Since the museum started to digitalize its collection in 2005, all objects have been registered in a database, thereby revealing those where information is needed: Who is the person shown in a photo or painting? Who is the model who sat for the sculptor Franz Plunder? Is a brooch merely a piece of jewelry or is it an organization’s badge? What were small pouring containers used for? What was the name of the restaurant where this sign hung that has belonged to the collection for decades?

The exhibition aims to integrate visitors into the museum’s daily routine – in the hope of receiving helpful answers to concrete questions. Contemporary witnesses can provide important information, especially about how everyday objects and tools were used. So you see, today’s museums also collect stories.

Pure joy and pleasure in the creative process, an unbridled creative drive, no requirement to please everyone – that is what lends these works their power and poetry. In a word: art for art’s sake. DIRECT! is far removed from academic guidelines and discourse, with no consideration for trends in the art market. That is priceless. Call it what you want: art brut, outsider art, non-academic art, neurodiverse art, condition-related art, bespoke art, naive art …
Since 2015, the museum has focused on collecting works by outsiders and artists who need extra support and who live and work in Vorarlberg. 70 artworks have been acquired so far. This sends a clear signal that the vorarlberg museum is expanding its collection to be more diverse and inclusive. This is the first time the vorarlberg museum gives a DIRECT! insight into this field, inviting visitors to come face-to-face with its artistic potential.

In 18^th century Naples, during carnival, piles of foodstuffs hung from a huge tree-like scaffolding. The crowds would loot these Cuccagnas in a collective excess leaving the place ravaged. The scenery comes to life, the audience turns into protagonists, frenzied and excited – all of this fascinates the Vorarlberg artist Paul Renner (* 1957). His 10 meter-high Cuccagna in the museums’s atrium is framed by large-size pictures of the Bregenz photographer Christian Schramm, who has documented the foodstuff sculptures created by Renner up until now.

In some Bregenzerwald parlours, you will find Kanapees from the Biedermeier era, whose elegance is still impressive today. Their material, design and form are typical of the middle-class furniture design in the early 19^th century. The exhibition illustrates the great variety of shapes by showcasing restored original sofas from Johannes Mohr’s workshop. But how did these exquisite pieces of furniture make their way from an urban environment to a rural region? This question has not yet been fully

Language is the material Veronika Schubert uses to create her art. The artist, born in Bregenz, collects sentences and headlines, tears them out of their context and gives them a new meaning. In her most recent project called Lead Story, she turns the vorarlberg museum into a title page: Its windows feature eye-catching headlines which focus on the importance of our cultural identity.