(CON)TEMPORARY FASHION SHOWCASE

In the context of the (Con)temporary Fashion Showcase series, a video installation by Jojo Gronostay can be seen under the title MAGIC CANNOT CROSS THE SEA. In it, he examines the so-called sapeurs of Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo)—mostly men from precarious circumstances who wear designer suits and attribute a spiritual dimension to their apparel. They make the streets their catwalk with seemingly choreographed movements. At the same time, Gronostay examines the Eurocentric conception of fashion upon which the historical costume collections of museums of applied arts like the MAK are based by superimposing museum objects onto the video recordings.

Starting with the 2022 season, the Geymüllerschlössel will become a discursive space dedicated to the phenomenon of fashion as a (CON)TEMPORARY FASHION SHOWCASE. This Biedermeier gem, which is open only on weekends, will thus become the long-awaited refuge for fashion enthusiasts in the Austrian museum landscape. Temporary exhibitions, presentations, and performances aimed at a (socially) diverse audience will be dedicated to virulent fashion topics with thematically linked events such as talks, symposia, workshops, and book presentations and will explore content-related questions about the essence of fashion.