The meeting also underscored the significance of funding secured from the City of Vienna and the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, explicitly designated to propel the digitization efforts of one of the institution’s most vital components – its archive. This funding heralds new steps in the preservation, further research and accessibility of the VBKÖ’s historical legacy. But, as Holz underscores, archive work is not only looking back, it is also doing right in contemporary times.
The new international board, which comprises Brishty Alam, Susana Ojeda, Denise Palmieri, Mika Maruyama and Mzamo Nondlwana (1), and is supported by an extended board, is coming from varied fields, spanning art, activism, research, curation, and writing. As I delve into their biographies, their collective vision for the organization becomes more apparent. They aspire to further open VBKÖ to external communities, activists, artists, and queer feminists. It is more and more awareness toward the past, that despite the organization has done a lot for female artists since 1910, that has not always been so open to class, gender, orientation, sexuality, and origin.
Today, what unions all these artists is the force of their voices, the usage of the body, the politics of care, the ability to see all kinds of bodies, all the marginalized ones in our society (solidarity and working together). Therefore, the 2024 and 2025 programs embrace collective works. In the upcoming two years, VBKÖ will have not only exhibitions but also workshops, gatherings, screenings, events, and lectures.
Audre Lorde’s poignant question in her book Sister Outsider, „How are you practicing what you preach—whatever you preach, and who is exactly listening?“ is a epicentre for the organization’s program.
VBKÖ aims so to foster an environment that embraces diverse truths, tenderly accepts all emotions, even the less appealing ones, and acknowledges the complexity of human experience.
After the conference, we immerse ourselves in the invaluable archive spaces of VBKÖ. It is Georgia Holz who reveals the situation of the Austrian Association of Wom*n Artists archive with unvarnished clarity: from the status quo to future ambitions. Ambitious plans are underway, to make this treasure trove accessible to the public and national and international researchers, and why not maybe a day also by creating a unique residency programme? Holz says that a lot of work will be done to fill the silences of this archive. It is now a few decades that such efforts have started. Being here today is also a way to celebrate the grants from the city and those of the Ministery. The path hasn’t been easy, it has also been times that the archive has been asked to move elsewhere or to be part of some other institution, but the organization and it members steadfastly refused to let this crucial repository of memory be relocated.
„It has to remain in the house,“ says Holz. The organization is preparing to embark on extensive archival projects and hopes to one day hire a dedicated archivist, as volunteer efforts from organization members alone are no longer sustainable. Like any archive, there are many roles to be filled. However, Holz emphasized that the focus on the archive should not be just the past; they want to be more attentive to the preservation of the contemporary as well. As I depart, my mind lingers on the archives of the present, contemplating the journey ahead for VBKÖ. My fervent hope is that the organisation advances more and more in the opening of their archive, which for sure will require subsequent funding.
Note: During the Independent Space Index 2024, festival of independent art spaces in Vienna, from 31. May – 2. June, there will be two group exhibitions opening: „Rituals of Resistance“ with artists Rheremita Cera, Tetta, Va-Bene E. K. Fiatsi, and „Help! My objects move“, an exhibition in collaboration with Transcultural Studies, University of Applied Arts Vienna, a seminar by Brishty Alam with artists Livia Avianus, Félix Hell, Angelina Van Der Neut and Hui Zhu.
Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ)
Maysedergasse 2/28, 4. floor (elevator available)
1010 Vienna
www.vbkoe.org