Angewandte Festival 2026 — Institute of Conservation
Angewandte Festival 2026 — Institute of Conservation
Concept
When objects are kept in safekeeping due to their fragile condition, the labour of those who care for them often remains unseen. Catherine Spet & Tobias Schützenberger interweave the absence of objects with outdated notions of conservation and the ongoing issue of "shadow work" within the field.
They reflect on whispers and sighs, on hidden stories gradually coming to light.
The spatial installation documents conservation processes undertaken by students of the Institute — processes that are rarely visible to the public, yet essential to preserving the material memory of culture.
Five objects from four Austrian museums and collections form the heart of this catalogue: each one fragile, each one cared for, each one briefly absent from the world's gaze.
Works
Video documentation of the installation and conservation processes.
Artists
Catherine Spet focuses on the synthesis of media-theoretical and techno-philosophical concepts and their influence on societal questions, with a particular interest in AI, AR, XR, game art, and audio-visual experience-making. In a catalogue of tender evidence, she interweaves the absence of fragile objects with outdated notions of conservation and the ongoing issue of "shadow work" within the field — reflecting on whispers and sighs, on hidden stories gradually coming to light.
NRW Forum Düsseldorf · Athens Digital Arts Festival · CIVA Festival · Kaleidoskop Kulture Festival Novi Sad · Amaze Festival Berlin · The Wrong Biennale · ASVOFF Paris · ArtSect Gallery London · IAA Mobility Messe München · Re:Publica Berlin · Krahuletz-Museum Eggenburg · SHOT Conference at USC California Los Angeles · MDW Wien · FORWARD Festival
Spet lives and works in Vienna.
Based in Vienna, Tobias Schützenberger works across the fields of music, sound, and performance. His practice encompasses composition, production, and audio engineering, informed by experiences ranging from curating concerts and club nights to working in jazz clubs, circus environments, and interdisciplinary artistic projects. He has composed music for short films, performs as a member of Misfit Coda, and contributes to collaborative audiovisual works. His latest projects have been presented at Deep Space at Ars Electronica and at the Porn Film Festival Vienna. For a catalogue of tender evidence, he contributes a sound art layer that makes audible what conservation work so often keeps silent: the textures of care, patience, and material fragility.
Schützenberger lives and works in Vienna.
Viviane Kübler describes herself as a queer-feminist cultural worker with a focus on resistant tools and strategies for reclaiming digital space. She coordinates the 'Software Conservation' programme at the institute of Conservation, University of Applied Arts, Vienna
Objects
Each object in this catalogue represents a conservation process undertaken by students of the Institute — a labour of care made briefly visible.
Credits
Students of the Institute of Conservation
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to all who contributed their time, trust, and expertise to make this project possible.
DE — Wir möchten uns ganz herzlich bei allen bedanken, die zur Verwirklichung dieses Projekts beigetragen haben. Insbesondere möchten wir den Studierenden der Konservierung danken: Antonia Haunolder, Katharina Wiesinger, Gregor Dielacher, Miriam Schaller, Laura Gießibl, Alma Lonyai, Valentina Marija Stoisits, Sofia Wurzer, Sonja Wallnöfer, Ana Pluhar, Angela Strik und Caio Vieira für ihre Offenheit, Großzügigkeit und ihre Bereitschaft zur Teilnahme.
Unser Dank gilt auch den Museen und Sammlungen: Schönbrunn-Group, Barmherzige Schwestern des Deutschordens Friesach, Volkskundemuseum Wien, Technisches Museum Wien. Wir möchten dem Weibel-Institut, Silvia Stocker und Charlotte Reuß sowie der TransArts und Christoph Höschele für die Bereitstellung der Technik und die technische Unterstützung danken. Abschließend danken wir Martina Griesser-Stermscheg für ihr Vertrauen, ihre Offenheit und ihre Unterstützung.
EN — We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to the realization of this project. In particular, we would like to thank the Conservation students for their openness, generosity, and willingness to participate.
We are also grateful to the museums and collections: Schönbrunn Group, Teutonic Order Friesach / Barmherzige Schwestern des Deutschordens, The Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art Vienna, and the Vienna Museum of Science and Technology. We want to thank the Weibel Institute, Silvia Stocker and Charlotte Reuß, and TransArts, Christoph Höschele, for technical support. Finally, we acknowledge Martina Griesser-Stermscheg for her trust and support throughout.