The exhibition "Lichtungen. The award-winning works of the 39th Austrian Graphic Design Competition" will make a brief stop in South Tyrol after Innsbruck: from 9 to 16 April, the works will be on display at the Haus der Kultur - Waltherhaus in Bolzano.
The exhibition will be opened on Wednesday, 8 April 2026, at 6 pm in the presence of curator Ralf Bormann, Head of the Graphic Art Collection of the Tyrolean Provincial Museums. Also present will be Provincial Councillor Philipp Achammer and Hans-Christoph von Hohenbühel, Chairman of the South Tyrolean Cultural Institute.
In 1952, 73 years ago, the Tyrolean artist Paul Flora initiated the Austrian Graphic Design Competition as an open competition without any thematic requirements. Conditions were only set for the medium, format and time of creation: The works had to be made solely on paper, be no larger than 1.5 by 1.5 metres and no older than three years. This principle still applies today, and so the 39th edition of the competition in 2025 once again called for creative indulgence and experimentation.
Twelve of the 400 or so entries were honoured with a prize and a further four were purchased: Marianne Lang, Iris Dittler, Peter Fritzenwallner, Christoph Luger, Thomas Hörl, Nikolaus Gansterer, Ramona Schnekenburger, Annika Eschmann, Barbara Holub, Nico Schleicher, Christian Azzouni, Emma Peinhopf and Linda Artemis Bergstötter, Katharina Biser, Edith Hofer and Julia Zastava follow in the footsteps of renowned prizewinners from previous rounds such as Maria Lassnig, Gerhild Diesner, Arnulf Rainer, Martha Jungwirth and Wolfgang Hollegha. The exhibition accompanying the competition sheds light on contemporary Austrian art. At the same time, it creates existential Lichtungen in the global chaos of a present marked by anthropocene devastation.
