Vision and Resistance - How the MuseumsQuartier Changed Vienna

Twenty-five years after the MQ opened, this exhibition looks back on the turbulent history of one of the world’s largest cultural complexes. Through drawings, plans, models, and works of art, the exhibition traces a broad arc from the Baroque Court Stables to the “Messepalast“ and on to the planning and construction of the MQ. The exhibition “Vision and Resistance - How the MuseumsQuartier Changed Vienna,” on view at MQ Freiraum, tells the story of the MQ: of bold designs, bitter debates, and a project that repeatedly teetered on the brink of failure. Through sketches, original architectural models, plans, historical documents, and newspaper headlines, it illustrates the decades-long controversies and demonstrates that the MQ was never intended to be “finished”, either in terms of its content or its architecture. Today, with around five million visitors annually, the MuseumsQuartier is one of the world’s largest art and culture complexes. With its diverse institutions and the design and landscaping of its courtyards, it has established itself as a public space where art, culture, and everyday life intertwine. To this day, it remains a place of negotiation, a cultural hub for artist