
Things that talk
A showcase from the Friends of the Natural History Cabinet Association archives
An exhibition by Art & Science
A cooperation between the University of Applied Arts Vienna and the Museum of Natural History Vienna during Vienna Art Week
2011
The items exhibited on the central staircase of the Museum of Natural History Vienna have been selected from the long-standing
collection of the Friends of the Natural History Cabinet Association. The initiator of the first soirées in the mid-eighteenth century is said to be the illustrious Emperor Franz I (Franz Stephan
of Lorraine) himself, whose private Natural History Cabinet is considered to be the origin of the Museum of Natural History.
In pursuit of new scientific insights, the Emperor gathered a circle of like-minded amateur collectors and well-known experts,
forming an association with the aim to present and create a discussion around current research. Members of the club started
to collect objects that were of special interest to their discussions. Over the following decades, this compilation of items
seems to have grown more in peculiarity than in number, which is why it has been suggested that parts of the collection have
gone lost. Also, rumour has it, in the years it has been stored and almost forgotten in the cellar of the museum, some items
have been assumed part of the collection, which were not previously included. The social tradition of the Friends of the Natural History Cabinet Association continues still today, with current members holding regular meetings in the form of a dinner at the museum each week. For
this current exhibition selected items from the association’s collection were prepared for display by the Art & Science class/University
of Applied Arts Vienna in collaboration with the Friends of the Natural History Cabinet Association.
Concept, Realisation
Wissenschafliches Kabinett Simon Weber-Unger
Contact
+43 1 71133/2160
pr@uni-ak.ac.at
www.dieangewandte.at
www.nhm-wien.ac.at
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Students
- Michael Bachhofer (Works)
- Pepa Bugueiro Domingo (Works)
- Alin Cîrstea (Production)
- Sarah Duit (Works)
- Romana Maria Egartner (Works)
- Anna Fatér (Works)
- Rudolf Friemel (Works)
- Ashley Holwell (Production)
- Anna Frida Jónsdóttir (Works)
- Michal Marencik (Works)
- Iulian Titus Moise (Production)
- David Palme (Works)
- Sabina Teichert (Production)
- Brigitte Zwick (Works)
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Team
- Valerie Deifel (Host, Technical and Editorial production)
- Juliana Herrero (Host, Technical and Editorial production)
- Bernd Kräftner (Host, Technical and Editorial production)
- Sonja Orman (Finances)
- Virgil Widrich (Host, Technical and Editorial production)