KUNST.PRAXIS
New space for the University of Arts Linz in the city center
At the beginning of the fall semester, the University of Arts Linz will gain a very attractive business premises, the Paramentenwerkstatt of the Marienschwestern vom Karmel at Seilerstätte 1, as an event, exhibition and studio space. Specifically, the Department of Artistic Practice of Hubert Lobnig, professor at the Institute for Art and Education, and his team will have the opportunity to work with students for several years in close connection with the urban space. The large display windows offer the opportunity to communicate and interact directly with the urban space - which corresponds exactly to the pragmatics of the department and the art university.
Back in spring, the exhibition "Between More and Less - Voluntary Renunciation in Times of Limitless Consumption" by Künstlerische Praxis in the former church and the rooms of Paramentik met with a great response.
The "KUNST.PRAXIS", as the space will be called in future, is to become a studio, workshop and meeting place. In reference to the neighborhood with its two large hospitals, the name of the place - with a wink - is intended to indicate both the healing effect of art and the importance of its practical application. Consultation hours by appointment! The recurring encounters between students of the University of Arts Linz with different publics will guarantee an interesting program.
Sacred textiles have been produced and restored in the parament workshop since 1870. The church of the Sisters of Mary blends almost inconspicuously into the street frontage and has also existed since 1870. In the redesign following the Second Vatican Council at the beginning of the 1960s, the church was dismantled and greatly simplified. Its current character dates from this time. At the end of 2022, the Sisters of Mary left their convent, the parament workshop and the church in Linz after more than 150 years and moved on to Bad Mühllacken.
Vice Rector Erik Aigner on the newly acquired space for the University of Art: "We are very pleased to be able to open up this space for the University of Art Linz - our special thanks therefore go to the Sisters of Mary. The use of the parament workshop in the center of Linz will certainly provide teachers and students with many opportunities for lively exchange and encounters with visitors and the local population."
