Annual Program 2025: Picturing Justice

Exhibition program Picturing Justice

The 2025 program at Salzburger Kunstverein, organized under the framework of Picturing Justice, examines the practice of justice as a realm of inherent dissonance. Through the visual metaphor of scales with multiple pans and points of balance, the program aims to emphasize plurality and complexity of perspectives over the binary of “right” versus “wrong” while considering contemporary struggles and debates on social, ecological, and infrastructural injustice.

The program is conceived against the backdrop of the interpretational chaos that is prevalent within the digital public sphere, a contentious space which is often experienced via screens. Behind such hermetic surfaces, judgment is swift and information becomes fragmented, distorted, and quickly weaponized. Artists and curators invited to contribute to the program reflect on how different perceptions of justice intersect with broader philosophical debates on subjectivity, truth, evidence, and responsibility. The process of “picturing” implies an exercise in imagination as much as an effort to understand and rethink the systems of representation that enforce the matrix of judgment and valuation that everyone is a part of.

With Picturing Justice, we seek to question whether the scales, with their binary construction, are even the right tool for measuring what is just versus unjust within the context of contemporary societal struggles. 

The traditional iconography attributed to Lady Justice includes the blindfold, the scales, and the sword. It is interesting to notice that once upon a time Lady Justice had wide-open eyes, as we can see in the engraving by Albrecht Dürer titled Sol Iustitiae (c. 1499–1500, Sun of Righteousness or Die Sonne der Gerechtigkeit). The blindfold, which was added during the Renaissance, may have been intended as a satirical comment on the corruption of legal systems in order to highlight how judicial institutions turned a blind eye to injustice. It was only later, during the Enlightenment, that the blindfold was reinterpreted as a symbol of impartiality. 

The current Chief Justice of India, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, acknowledged at the beginning of 2024 that the representation of Lady Justice is rooted in the Western canon and bears the imprint of colonial legacies, and introduced a significant iconographic reinterpretation which reflects a shift in perspective. In the updated Indian representation, Lady Justice has shed the blindfold, wears a saree, and holds the scales in one hand and a copy of the Indian Constitution in the other, itself an embodiment rooted in both cultural identity and constitutional authority.

In the realm of the so-called digital public sphere, in which art is very much imbricated, civic society is wielding the sword of justice: calling out against injustices, advocating for causes, bearing witness, defying the law when necessary, and attempting to shape it. We might ask ourselves, who are we to judge? Yet again, if we refuse to judge, then who will?

This raises a further question: Can we learn to disagree more constructively? One might argue that fostering constructive disagreement may offer a way to bridge the widening gaps in contemporary civil discourse. Perhaps justice, in this sense, is less about wielding a sword and more about creating space for multiple voices, even those that challenge one’s own. Picturing Justice will be such an attempt. Picturing what is “just” versus “unjust” outside of any fixed legal framework and instead within the negotiated edifices of the public sphere.

Exhibition Program

March 14–May 4

Dana Kavelina | Studio
New work by Dana Kavelina articulates the realities of forced conscription in Ukraine, presenting interconnected stories of human and animal exploitation in a stop-motion film. 

New Mineral Collective | Grand Hall
Through repurposing the form and function of geological tools, New Mineral Collective proposes “counter-prospecting tools” to shift the narrative from exploitation of resources towards conservation and healing.

Presented in conjunction with a related project at Mercer Union in Toronto, January 25–March 22.

May 16–July 13

Tania Gheerbrant | Studio
New work from the series Fleurs de l’histoire delves into the anti-psychiatric patient collectives of the 1970s, aiming to illuminate he oppressive systems within both medical and penal institutions. Tania Gheerbrant explores the parallels between the historical persecution of witches during the Inquisition and the modern treatment of psychiatric patients, following the rovocative ideas of psychiatrist Thomas Szasz.

This exhibition is conceived in collaboration with Frac Bretagne, Rennes as Tania Gheerbrant is the 2024 winner of the Frac Bretagne-Art Norac Award.

Mikołaj Sobczak | Grand Hall
At the center of Mikołaj Sobczak’s artistic practice is the depiction of alternative historical narratives; in his paintings and assemblages he inserts protagonists from queer and countercultural emancipatory movements. For this exhibition, Sobczak reflects on the historical and aesthetic ties between fascism and capitalism and delves into the emergence of modern forms of fascism alongside the growing popularity of esotericism.

July 25–September 14

Laila Shawa | Studio
This presentation marks the first Austrian exhibition of pioneering Palestinian artist Laila Shawa (1940–2022), who attended Oskar Kokoschka’s School of Seeing in Salzburg between 1960 and 1963. Curated by Jakub Gawkowski, the exhibition delves into Shawa’s cross-cultural visual language marked by erratic forms and intense colors that challenges traditional narratives of the West and the Rest through what has been termed “Islamo-pop,” commenting on complex, politically fraught subjects with a vibrant palette and image repetition. 

In collaboration with TRAFO Trafostacja Sztuki Szczecin, where the exhibition will be presented in Autumn 2025.

Esben Weile Kjær | Grand Hall
This exhibition takes the form of a mutable stage, a space where freedom becomes as much a performance and a reality marked by spontaneity and uncertainty. Esben Weile Kjær creates a sculptural scenario that platforms ongoing negotiations, challenging visitors to reconsider the notion of nostalgia in relation to the past and the future.

September 20–November 16

The Museum of (Non)Restitution | Studio and Grand Hall
Thomas Geiger, Tatiana Lecomte, Sophie Thun
Utilizing the objects from the collection of the Salzburg Museum, the showcase features explorations by Thomas Geiger, Tatiana Lecomte, and Sophie Thun, about how the return of art objects and rights can transform the identities and communities involved. It challenges the traditional view of restitution as simply restoring property rights, prompting visitors to think about the underlying issues of ownership and loss.

Co-produced with Salzburg Museum-Gastspiel and Salzburger Kunstverein-Picturing Justice. Curated by Mirela Baciak, Katja Mittendorfer-Oppolzer and Susanne Rolinek.

December 12–February 01

Annual Exhibition of the members of the Salzburger Kunstverein  | Grand Hall
The final exhibition of the year is a showcase traditionally reserved for the members of the Kunstverein, this year guest-curated by magazin53a.

magazin53a is part of the Association for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Salzburg and deals with the artistic and cultural scene in the city and region of Salzburg. This includes museums, art associations, galleries and various events.
The multi-faceted reporting generates attention for exhibitions and projects and establishes a comprehensive discourse on the art and cultural landscape of Salzburg and beyond. With a feuilletonistic approach, the magazine produces a broad public for the contemporary art scene and serves as a platform for interlinking institutions and discourses. Young authors in particular are committed to a new art criticism.

Art needs space. Salzburg (actually) has plenty of it. The house number 53a of an unused vacancy becomes a program and symbol for a gap to be filled in our cultural coverage.

Isabell Rauchenbichler | Studio
Concurrently, we present the work of Isabell Rauchenbichler, the winner of the 2023 Emerging Artist Award of Land Salzburg and Salzburger Kunstverein.

Throughout the year, Salzburger Kunstverein will host collaborative projects with Mozarteum University, the Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts, others tbc. For a detailed program, please visit our website later this spring.

Cooperations overview:

17.01.2025
Research Reviews
By PhD in the Arts Mozarteum University in collaboration with Salzburger Kunstverein. “Research Reviews” is a series of events organized by the PhD in the Arts programme at the Mozarteum University. Doctoral students and invited guests present their research projects and present them to a wider public for debate. The series continued on 17 January with PhD candidates Aline Braun and Lisa Großkopf and two short lectures by Anja Arendt, dance scholar at Folkwang University, and Alma-Elisa Kittner, art educator at the University of Giessen.

09.05.2025
Utopia
Art exhibition for and by young people
Organised by students of the HTBLuVA SALZBURG, Department of Graphic and Communication Design and Media (Multimedia Interaction Design)

30.07., 13.08., 27.08.2025
Sunset Kino
In collaboration with Salzburg International Summer Academy.
We are delighted to continue our cooperation with the Summer Academy. You can look forward to three exciting cinema evenings curated by Summer Academy teachers.

28.11.-07.12.2025
9th children’s exhibition by ARTgenosssen in cooperation with Salzburger Kunstverein
Children from the city and province of Salzburg will once again be working creatively in the ARTgenossen studio and designing the exhibition.
Mozarteum Students Exhibition in cooperation with Mozarteum University
Sudents from the Visual Arts Education course will present their work at the end of the year.

The Salzburger Kunstverein AIR-Programme in collaboration with the Federal Ministry for Arts and Culture
The international AIR-program continues with the following artists: Edona Ademi (DE), Wisrah C. V. da R. Celestino (BR), Charles-Arthur Feuvrier (F), Tania Gheerbrant (F), Rayane Mcirdi (F), and Paula Sikta (IN/E).

Salzburger Kunstverein Writer in Residence-Program in collaboration with the Federal Ministry for Arts and Culture
Our “Writer in Residence” program will take place in collaboration with an international magazine for the second time in 2025.

Art Trip for members of the Salzburger Kunstverein
In September, in collaboration with Kunstverein Hannover, we will explore on an adventure into Warsaw, a city renowned for its vibrant art scene.

Cocoon Hotel
Our cooperation with Cocoon Hotel started in 2024 and will also continue in 2025.

KBK Rechtsanwälte
We are especially pleased to have KBK Rechtsanwälte as a sponsor for our 2025 Picturing Justice annual programme.

You will find more details about our program on our website later this spring: www.salzburger-kunstverein.at.

Programmed and curated by Mirela Baciak.