17 femicides and 23 attempted femicides in Austria (as of August 28, 2023) are the sad inspiration for a special exhibition exploring “Violence against Women“. In October, the Wiener Städtische Versicherung AG took a powerful stand against the issue that is more relevant than ever: continuing the series of Ringturm wrappings, the tower became a highly visible symbol against violence against women and children. In the context of this year’s Ringturm wrapping, the Wiener Städtische Versicherung AG tasked us with the curation and the design of the special exhibition and the related printed matters (such as invites, folders, posters) to promote it.

Starting point of the exhibition was the wrapping of the Ringturm with two pieces by the renowned Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein. The two works from the series “my sister“ emphatically visualize the issue of “violence experienced by women and children“.

In our curatorial work we chose to explore, in close collaboration with UN Women Austria, the WEISSEN RING and the Vienna network of women's shelters Wiener Frauenhäuser, the following issues: What is violence, situational violence, domestic violence and violence in public space? What role can art play related to violence against women and children? We also developed a series of events to accompany the exhibition, including panel discussions and a behavioral training workshop.

The core of our design concept were semi-transparent panels of fabric that allowed for some transparency, but at the same time symbolically covered up the issue of violence against women. These lengths of delicate fabric were contrasted by complementary fabrics, which, through their different textures, created a demarcation between the individual areas and had a strong presence in the space as a representative of the different facets of violence. As the center of the exhibition, we deliberately chose an empty space that on the one hand could be used as venue for the events accompanying the exhibition, and on the other hand offered a 360-view of the range of violence against women.

In both the curation and the design processes, great importance was given to scientifically sound contents and a mindful exploration of the topic of violence against women.

My mum is broken, she's just broken because she's been beaten so much.

Jasmin, 12 years old | In the beginning I was very much in love Karin Berger & Andrea Brem

Planning phase: six weeks | Scope: Curation, exhibition design & production | Completion: October 2023 | Exhibition printing matters: Development & Production | Size: 220 m² | Commissioned by: Wiener Städtische Versicherung AG