Austria’s Vienna Actionism Museum will end public exhibitions and become a research institution in 2027. Its Otto Muehl show drew protests from survivors of abuse in the artist’s commune. Muehl was convicted of crimes including sexual abuse of minors. The museum plans to retain public access by appointment after its exhibition programme ends.
The Vienna Actionism Museum, a private Austrian institution devoted to the postwar art movement, will stop public exhibitions in 2027 and continue as a research institution. The change follows protests over its Otto Muehl exhibition. Its current show is scheduled to finish on January 10, 2027. The future research institution will admit members of the public by appointment.[1], [2]
Muehl was convicted in 1991 of crimes including sexual abuse of minors in the commune he led during the 1970s and 1980s. Survivors spoke out against the exhibition that opened on September 10. Mathilda, a group led by former commune members, urged the museum to divest financially from his work and asked Austrian authorities to investigate how the commune had operated for nearly two decades.[1]
The museum says it exhibited only works made before the commune was established in 1970. Curator Klaus Albrecht Schroeder argued that discussing Muehl’s importance to art history did not diminish the gravity of his crimes. Shareholders said the justified moral condemnation of the artist had so overshadowed perceptions of his art that regular exhibitions were no longer viable. The institution opened in 2024.[1]
