Vienna Design Week
ART CONNECTIONS

Related exhibition, publication: ART CONNECTIONS | Group exhibition Budapest Metropolitan University, COLLEGIUM HUNGARICUM WIEN – UNGARISCHES KULTURINSTITUT
Location: Wiedner Hauptstraße 52, 1040 Wien, Österreich
Publication date: 26/9-5/10/2025
Curators: Dr. Zsuzsanna Pörczi, PhD and Anna Kudron
Our project: An edible mission. Fusion of Materials_
Artists: Andrea Brittnek DLA & Kata Lagzi
Links: viennadesignweek.at, metropolitan.hu, facebook.com

With the group exhibition ART CONNECTIONS, the Collegium Hungaricum Wien and Budapest Metropolitan University are celebrating the 15th anniversary of the university’s Faculty of Art and Creative Industries. The show explores the connection between art and the pressing issues of our time. Following the concept of “Tragkraft”, it reflects on the ability of humans and nature to withstand pressure before caving in. Artists and creative professionals also often reach their limits in their creative expression. How much weight can they carry before the form or the artists themselves have to adapt?

Art Connections promises to be a vibrant representation of creativity and collaboration, highlighting the interconnectedness of art and the pressing issues of our time.

Tragkraft – the weight that can be borne without harm – reflecting on both human resilience and the capacity of nature to withstand pressure before reaching a breaking point. We can also observe the Tragkraft of the Art(ists), where creative expression is tested at the threshold between endurance and transformation, revealing how much can be carried before the form – or the artist – must change.

Exhibition Highlights:

The exhibition will showcase the diverse institutes within the Faculty of Arts, featuring works created through a unique collaboration between professors and students. Each pairing will present reflective pieces that explore various themes. Universities today often function as educational factories, while there is an increasing need for them to become extraordinary fields of connection. With our exhibition, we would like to draw attention to the relationships that develop between teachers and students, with the local community, and among students themselves. What kind of world will today's students be working in as artists? What are we preparing them for? What is our role in the world? What can we learn from each other? What can we learn from working together? Why is the practice of co-creativity particularly important today? We should be able to reflect upon these and similar questions together.

The exhibition presents the works of master-student pairs from the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries at Budapest Metropolitan University.

Themes:

While not limited to, the artworks will delve into relevant topics such as ecological concerns, sustainability, innovative techniques, human relationships, and well-being. Central to the exhibition is the notion of Tragkraft – the weight that can be borne without harm – reflecting on both human resilience and the capacity of nature to withstand pressure before reaching a breaking point. These intertwined themes will serve as guiding concepts around which the exhibition is organized, aiming to provoke thought and encourage discussions among attendees. At the venue, the presence of Tragkraft will reveal itself in ways both subtle and self-evident, inviting visitors to sense its limits with their perceptions.