Office of Open Questions

20.9.–13.10.
Kaiser-Josef-Platz 4, 8010 Graz
Mon–Sun 9:00–18:00
Closed on 30.9. and 7.10.

The Office of Open Questions opens its doors once again! Anyone interested in exploring steirischer herbst ’19 through questions and dialogue is invited to take part in our program. We look forward to your visit!

We provide three different formats of guided tours for visitors who would like to engage with this year’s edition, Grand Hotel Abyss. The first tour, Im Fokus (In Focus), devotes an hour examining the work of one single artist in detail and investigate this position in conversation with experts. Allianzen (Alliances) explores multiple sites along the exhibition itinerary, often in discussion with artists or members of the curatorial team. Anyone who loves striking panoramic views is welcome to take part in Landschaften (Landscapes), an eight-hour day that offers an overview of the entire exhibition, including joint meals and breaks.

For school groups that would like to take a look at selected artworks in a playful manner, we recommend our escape tour through downtown Graz, Spy and Escape—Rein ins Hotel und Raus aus der Bubble (Spy and Escape—Into the Hotel and Out of the Bubble). For schools located outside of Graz, there are two special programs. All of the region’s Dieselkino cinemas are participating in the popular series Festivalfilme auf Steiermarktour (Festival Films Touring Styria). The installation Schulausflug, initially developed by Michael Hieslmair and Michael Zinganel for the last edition of the festival, has now been expanded for steirischer herbst ’19 and can be booked as a traveling exhibition with an accompanying workshop.

All recommendations and offers for schools can be found in our online brochures Program for Schools and Festivalfilme auf Steiermarktour.

If you are hungry for even more steirischer herbst, take home our Grand Hotel Abyss Quartett edition (only available in German), a card game in which one aims to match four cards. You will be a winner, no matter what.

Tour Formats

Schulausflug . . . auf Schulausflug
(School Trip . . . On a School Trip)

The kinds of things that school trips convey and what they hide is the basis for the installation Schulausflug (School Trip) by Michael Hieslmair und Michael Zinganel, which was developed for last year’s festival and has been expanded in conjunction with steirischer herbst ’19. This year the artist-architect duo transforms a passenger car trailer into a traveling exhibition and a touring venue for workshops during the duration of the festival. Visiting schools in the region of Styria, Hieslmair and Zinganel unload their trailer and invite both students and teachers to consider: What function do school trips have in times of dictatorship and repression, in times of reconstruction and faith in social progress, and in a period of event culture and corporate design? What kinds of places do schools visit—Eisenerz, Spielberg, or Graz—and what stories are told in the process? Is it the aim to take young people to visit the most beautiful sites and most successful businesses in the country, or is it to invoke a common narrative about “our” country?

Is there space for stories about failure, violence, and the exploitation of people and the natural environment?

Festivalfilme auf Steiermarktour
(Festival Films Touring Styria)

The Office of Open Questions goes on tour with a special selection of films created by artists of the steirischer herbst ’19 core program. In moderated presentations geared toward school children, film works are shown at all Dieselkino cinemas in a different context from regular entertainment and are intended to challenge viewers and raise questions: What is the emotional impact of moving images and to what extent are they intended to seduce or distract us? What kind of stories and messages underlie the grand narratives even though they are not explicitly stated? The program includes films by Jeremy Deller, Jule Flierl, Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze, Michael Portnoy, and Artur Żmijewski.

Michiel Vandevelde
Spring Comes to Haydar Pasha Station (2019)

Research photographs and selected texts

Should you happen to want to get your beard trimmed in September or October, you might very well find research material from Belgian choreographer Michiel Vandevelde’s visits to Turkey. Historical images and photographs taken in loose connection with Human Landscapes—Book II (2019), his contribution to steirischer herbst ’19, are on display in selected barbershops in Graz and in the Office of Open Questions. Further information on this project can be found in the corresponding map, written in Turkish and German, which is available at the individual venues, Verein Jukus (Annenstraße 39, 8020 Graz), and the Office of Open Questions.

Die Kunst ist meine Baustelle—von der Idee bis zur Ausführung (Art Is My Construction Site—From Idea to Realization)

School conference about the festival as workplace

During a day-long conference, the high school students of the HTBLVA Graz–Ortweinschule Bautechnik_Kunst&Design get a taste of the working environment of the festival, from conceptualization to realization. The steirischer herbst team offers insights into their respective fields and working processes through lectures, workshops, film screenings, and theater performances. Topics addressed include the responsibilities of a curator, participation in theater, and the development of outreach formats or a new corporate design. In addition, the students also look at the positions of specific artists through the eyes of visitors, not only following the development but also experiencing and understanding the impact of the works on view. The students then take part in a discussion with the curatorial team.