Kunsthaus Bregenz

The Austrian lakeside town of Bregenz is best known for its top-class festival, but it also has a lot to offer outside the opera season. The Kunsthaus Bregenz, or KUB for short, is one of the most important exhibition houses of contemporary art in Europe and has a first-class international reputation. So if you are enthusiastic about contemporary painting and photography, a visit to this museum is definitely recommended. The best way to get there is to cycle along the lakeshore to Bregenz. This way you can enjoy the beauty of the region on the way and save yourself the trouble of looking for a parking space. Alternatively, the train or scheduled boats will get you to Bregenz quickly and comfortably.

Glass-clad cube near the lakeshore

The KUB itself is an architectural highlight: made of glass panels, steel and stone mass, the building absorbs the light of the sky and Lake Constance and changes its colour depending on the time of day, angle of view and weather conditions. At night, the artificial light shines from inside through the light bands to the outside. The museum, which opened in 1997, was designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor.

Contemporary works with a local connection

The exhibition space of the KUB extends over the ground floor and three upper floors. International artists exhibit contemporary works here, most of which were created especially for the museum and address current developments in art and society. These can be, for example, photographs that take up aspects of the digital age, but also a puppet theatre that depicts the Middle East conflict. Through experimental and unconventional formats, the artworks are intended to establish a dialogue with the city, its history and its people. The spaces therefore serve as much for the admiration of contemporary art as for encounter and discussion.

A glimpse into the world of Austrian art

Even before the museum building was opened, founding director Edelbert Köb began to assemble a collection of contemporary art from Austria. Over the years, this has grown to include special donations and a steady stream of newly acquired exhibits, which are now presented in the KUB Collection Showcase. One focus is on paintings and sculptures – including works by Austrian artists such as Herbert Brandl, Erwin Bohatsch and Maria Lassnig.

The second focus of the in-house collection is on works in the field of tension between fine art and architecture. In the form of models, drawings or, for example, plans, projects by architects who are still alive are made accessible to the public – in various exhibition contexts.