WE ARE MANY – LEOPOLD MUSEUM MAKES PLEA FOR TOLERANCE AND DIVERSITY START OF THE CAMPAIGN FOR AN INCLUSIVE AND OPEN SOCIETY

30.08.2024

In the run-up to the Austrian legislative election on 29th September, and in view of imminent geo-political decisions – especially the upcoming US presidential election –, many of us observe the increasing polarization of society with growing concern. The debates surrounding the war resulting from the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the escalation of the conflict in Gaza following Hamas’ attack on Israel, as well as global terrorist activities, have led, not just in Austria, to a rise in political extremism. Against this background, the Leopold Museum has decided to make a strong plea for tolerance and diversity with its initiative WE ARE MANY. CELEBRATING DIVERSITY.

“With this initiative, the Leopold Museum is exercising its responsibility as a cultural and educational institution to promote diversity, inclusion and lived democracy. We are convinced that it is more important than ever before to consolidate voices and efforts to counter the worrying trend of an increasingly divided society, and to take a clear stance against this division. In this, we can derive inspiration from the pluralist society in Vienna around 1900, which turned the metropolis into a capital of culture.”

Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Director of the Leopold Museum

Artworks become Protest Placards

Comprising more than 8,300 works, the collection of the Leopold Museum affords unique insights into the artistic and intellectual milieu of Vienna 1900. They show that the former capital of culture was a lively hub where people of diverse backgrounds, religions and convictions not only co-existed but enriched each other’s cultures. Eleven works in the museum’s permanent presentation Vienna 1900. Birth of Modernism and the temporary exhibition Splendor and Misery. New Objectivity in Germany, are turned into manifestoes against social wrongs, such as intolerance, social injustice, the overexploitation of natural resources and gender discrimination. By means of wooden sticks held up by stylized hands placed underneath the works, the exhibits become protest placards. Thought-provoking accompanying texts provide further information, and establish a connection between the works and the challenges of our time.

The themes of the initiative WE ARE MANY. CELEBRATING DIVERSITY range from a plea for social diversity and the importance of feminism, via appeals for climate protection, the appreciation of education and labor, as well as against war, hunger and poverty, all the way to questions of gender identities and sexual orientation.

For this symbolical demonstration at the museum – an “art demonstration” so to speak –, we selected works by Albert Birkle, Tina Blau-Lang, Kate Diehn-Bitt, Gustav Klimt, Felix Nussbaum, Max Oppenheimer, Christian Schad, Otto Rudolf Schatz, Egon Schiele, Rudolf Schlichter and Simeon Solomon.

Campaign on the Initiative WE ARE MANY

The Leopold Museum’s initiative is supported by a campaign comprising its own website leopoldmuseum.org/en/wearemany/en, videos, social media activities and posters.

The key visual of the campaign shows a group of protesters. In the front row, we see the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, and the painter Richard Gerstl holding the banner with the lettering WE ARE MANY. CELEBRATING DIVERSITY. Next to them is the artiste Rasha portrayed by Christian Schad. Behind her, we can discern Schad himself wearing a transparent shirt, Gustav Klimt in his painter’s smock holding a cat, Isabella Reisser, the wife of the technical director of the newspaper Neue Freie Presse, Christoph Reisser, portrayed by Anton Romako, as well as Kate Diehn-Bitt’s gender-fluid self-portrait. In the last row, we encounter figures from Otto Rudolf Schatz’s painting Hope, and – last but not least – Egon Schiele’s attentive gaze.

Notable personalities from the areas of art, culture, science and business have agreed to record video statements for our initiative, among them curator Tomas Zierhofer-Kin, the artist and curator Mirjana Mustra, lawyer and human rights expert Lysander Fremuth (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute), journalist and publisher Barbara Coudenhove-Kalergi, the artistic director of ImPulsTanz festival Karl Regensburger, actress Ruth Brauer-Kvam, fashion designer and entrepreneur Arthur Arbesser, musician Timna Brauer, art educator Markus Hübl, social welfare expert Martin Schenk (Diakonie Österreich) and Michael Parzer, professor at the sociology department of Vienna University.

Guided Tours of WE ARE MANY

As part of our initiative WE ARE MANY. CELEBRATING DIVERSITY, we offer special guided tours on four consecutive Sundays – 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd September – on select topics and works featured in the permanent presentation Vienna 1900. Birth of Modernism and the temporary exhibition Splendor and Misery. New Objectivity in Germany. The tours shine the spotlight on the social upheavals, contrasts and rich diversity in Vienna around 1900 and Germany during the interwar period, conveying how, already a century ago, artists addressed socio-political themes such as war, anti-Semitism, gender identities and environmental issues.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our WE ARE MANY project partner, Agentur Wien Nord Serviceplan, with whom we were able to realize the highly successful and multiple award-winning 2023 campaign in connection with the intervention A Few Degrees More (Will Turn the World into an Uncomfortable Place) as part of the permanent presentation on Vienna 1900 at the Leopold Museum.

Link to the campaign’s website offering further information and the video statements of our testimonials

www.leopoldmuseum.org/wearemany 

Headlines and Exhibits

• CLIMATE JUSTICE. NOW! – Tina Blau-Lang 1845 – 1916, Apple Blossoms, after 1894
• SMASH THE PATRIARCHY! – Simeon Solomon 1840 – 1905, Reading, 1865
• GIVE BACK TO NATURE. – Gustav Klimt 1862 – 1918, Litzlbergkeller, 1915/16
• FIGHT POVERTY, NOT THE POOR. – Egon Schiele 1890 – 1918, Mother with Two Children II, 1915
• WE´RE HERE. WE´RE QUEER. GET USED TO IT. – Max Oppenheimer 1885 – 1954, Self-Portrait, 1911
• WE ARE MANY – Otto Rudolf Schatz 1900 – 1961, Hope, 1930
• PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS! – Christian Schad 1894 – 1982, Agosta, the Winged Human and Rasha, the Black Dove, 1929
• FEED THE HUNGRY! – Rudolf Schlichter 1890 – 1955, Neglected Youth, c. 1925/26
• THE FUTURE IS GENDER-FLUID. – Kate Diehn-Bitt 1900 – 1978, Self-Portrait as Painter, 1935
• THERE IS NO PLANET B. – Albert Birkle 1900 – 1986, In the Silesian Coalfield, c. 1928-30
• NEVER AGAIN. – Felix Nussbaum 1904 – 1944, Organ Grinder, 1942/43

 

WE ARE MANY. CELEBRATING DIVERSITY is on display at the Leopold Museum until 29th September.

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