As of today, St. Pölten has one more international attraction
St. Pölten (OTS) – With the KinderKunstLabor, a new institution for contemporary art opens today as part of Culture St. Pölten 2024. The new exhibition house thinks in an interdisciplinary way – from video art and photography to painting, sculpture, installations, sound art and performance to accompanying scientific work. The building was designed by the architects Schenker Salvi Weber and, with its striking form, acts as a landmark on the way from the historic old town to the cultural district in St. Pölten. With three exhibitions a year and an extensive range of workshops and projects, the focus is on a young audience up to 12 years of age. At the same time, an artistically designed area for young children up to six years of age, an interactive textile installation in the form of a climbing net, a café in the house and the surrounding sculpture park in the newly designed Altoonapark offer all age groups a place to exchange ideas in an open and artistic environment.
Contemporary art for and with a young audience
What’s new: The Children’s Art Laboratory offers children an artistic space that has not yet existed in this form. Children participate in artistic productions as users of the building in children’s advisory groups and the art ideas workshop. In this way, they shape and transform the place: The Children’s Art Laboratory becomes their place. For five years, around 350 children have been helping to shape the Children’s Art Laboratory with their wishes, concerns and themes from the very beginning.
Photos of the opening can be found here.
“With the Children’s Art Laboratory we are breaking new ground: the children were and are involved in the planning of the house and its content programs. They are therefore not just consumers, but also co-creators of this institution. This unique process makes the Children’s Art Laboratory YOUR house. With this Children’s Art Laboratory we are setting a milestone in the art and culture education for children, young people and families, which is unique in all of Europe in its dimensions and conception. I am very pleased.”
Johanna Mikl-Leitner (Governor)
“The Children’s Art Laboratory is a wonderful project because it starts exactly where a major cultural policy challenge awaits us in the coming years: namely, reaching the cultural audience of tomorrow. Cultural education is a basic prerequisite for interest in art and culture and a key to promoting creativity, critical thinking and intercultural understanding. That is why it must be promoted from early childhood, and that is what the Children’s Art Laboratory stands for.”
Andrea Mayer (State Secretary for Art and Culture)
“I have always hoped that we, as the capital of Lower Austria, would have a special range of fine arts that would be unique for the city’s population, the entire surrounding area (i.e. the capital region) and the whole of Lower Austria, and that would also have a supra-regional and international impact. With the KinderKunstLabor, St. Pölten is now actually getting a unique and particularly important art house for children that is unparalleled in Europe.”
Matthias Stadler (Mayor)
“Questions, topics and impulses from the work with our children’s committees are at the heart of the KinderKunstLabor. In contrast to a sender-receiver model, young visitors participate as users of the house from the very beginning. This and the connection to contemporary art productions make the KinderKunstLabor a very special place. At the same time, research is a central component of the KinderKunstLabor. Findings that arise in institutional practice are scientifically processed and transferred within the framework of various research formats.”
Mona Jas (Artistic Director)
“The task was unique. On the one hand, it was necessary to think radically from a child’s perspective when planning, and on the other hand, to provide space that reflected a serious concept of art.”
Michael Salvi (Partner at Schenker Salvi Weber Architects)
Summertime in the Children’s Art Laboratory
On June 29th and 30th and throughout July, the opening days offer everyone the opportunity to get to know the house. From July 3rd to 28th, 2024, the Children’s Art Laboratory is open Wednesdays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with free admission.
First exhibition in September
In September, the first exhibition opens in the KinderKunstLabor: The Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander develops for her exhibition dream.lab an immersive spatial installation.
Specialist symposium in November
At the end of the year, the first specialist symposium on the topic Can institutions learn to walk? www.kinderkunstlabor.at
“The Children’s Art Laboratory is a unique model project, the likes of which have never been conceived before. I was immediately enthusiastic about the concept, as it brings together fields that are otherwise developed side by side in parallel social spaces. Through art, openness and creativity, the house will help to make St. Pölten, the capital region and Lower Austria perceived as places of the future.”
Mona Jas (Artistic Director)
Inquiries & Contact:
Nora Wenzler
+43 (0)664 60499 263
Isabella-Anja Khom
+43 (0)664 60499 239
presse@kinderkunstlabor.at
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