INCITING PASSION: What are our directors burning for? Part 2

Behind the Vienna Art Week stands the supporting association “Art Cluster Vienna”. We asked our members where they see passion in the arts and their institutions. Here are their answers…

Is the pursuit of art conceivable without passion? I don’t think so. A pinch of irrationality makes the good artist and the resourceful collector people who change things. Passion for art also marked the beginning of the history of the Belvedere 300 years ago. Following his passion, Prince Eugene of Savoy had an incomparable collection assembled in his palace. Today, the museum conveys this enthusiasm to its guests from all over the world. Because we museum people are also driven by passion – how could it be otherwise.

Architecture affects all of us. We are passionate about this conviction at the Architekturzentrum Wien. Climate crisis, distributive justice, identity and memory are fiercely contested topics, and they are all closely linked to thinking, designing, planning and building space. We show what architecture can do, for people and nature.

Without passion there is no art, but without passion there is no entrepreneurship, and without passion there is no progress. We know that this is not always easy. Especially in difficult times – we don’t even have to bother with the suffering inherent in passion. Together with Vienna’s entrepreneurs, we at the Vienna Business Agency share a passion for doing business here in the city, and for always daring to do something new. Keep the fire burning!

With the annual theme “Violence,” the Sigmund Freud Museum 2023 addresses the dark sides of human “passions” and focuses on the narcissistic abuse of power. In this way, the program at the place of origin of psychoanalysis follows Freud’s dictum – the fate of humanity hangs by the thread of its cultural assets – and dedicates itself in conferences, film screenings and exhibitions to this existentially threatening and sustainably corrosive threat to life and survival, as it is experienced above all by children, women, minorities and in war.

Dusty shelves, yellowed paper, gray boxes… Archives are not necessarily considered the epitome of passion. And yet hidden passions slumber in archives, just waiting to be reignited: Diaries, a forgotten letter, a faded photograph, or a carefully crafted manuscript can shed new light on secret desires, dreams, and visions. Such documents are often the key to unlocking unsolved mysteries. As the beating heart of forgotten stories and untold dreams, archives thus certainly have the potential to ignite deep passion!