at the end of the academic year, we would like to inform you once again about current developments. In particular, we would like to invite you to the opening of the Parcours diploma exhibition in the courtyard at Schillerplatz on Tuesday, June 18, at 4 pm. This event gives us the chance to celebrate all the graduates whose work is on display in the exhibition and at the same time to look back on a successful academic year.
With this Rector's Letter we can proudly announce new awards and opportunities for student and graduate support.
These include new Erasmus+-funded collaborations with international universities, which enable one student per semester to spend time abroad in Komasi, Ghana, and Posadas, Argentina. Comparable collaborations, including in Brazil and Canada, are in preparation. The short-term mobilities in collaboration with international art universities (Blended Intensive Programs) have been very well received and have led to successful partnerships, this year with the HFBK Hamburg, the Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee, the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest and universities in Athens and Rome, among others. Thanks to all our colleagues who contribute to the Academy being so well networked and enabling us to offer students and graduates these opportunities!
In the area of graduate support, we would like to once again draw attention to the residency program in the Andalusian museum village of Genalguacil, which four graduates can take advantage of for three months each year.
We are also very proud that, together with Uniqa Insurance we have been able to establish one of the best endowed art prizes in Austria, exclusively for graduates of the Academy. The Uniqa Prize, endowed with 15,000 euros, will be awarded every two years. For the first time, an exhibition of the prizewinners will take place in the foyer of the Uniqa Tower in spring 2025.
Together with Buwog, we have also created another call: three graduates will receive prize money of 5,000 euros each, for the realization of art in architecture projects. As part of the Mentoring Program Art, 12 graduates will once again have the opportunity to receive one-year support and networking with relevant representatives of the art field. The calls for entries for our competitions are constantly updated at https://calls.akbild.ac.at.
As part of existing prizes and funding programs, we would like to congratulate Ayala Shoshana Guy on winning this year's Birgit Jürgenssen Prize, Samuel Bich on winning the Cathrin Pichler Prize 2024 and Catherine Zesch and Otto Jaax on winning this year's Gustav Peichl Prize for Architectural Drawing. Congratulations to all prize winners!
Current IBK graduates are invited to take part in the competition for the Kunsthalle Wien Prize. The winner will be announced at the end of June during the graduation ceremony in the Atelierhaus on 28 June at 10.30 a.m. The exhibition Come as you are, shows the 2023 selected award winners in the Kunsthalle am Karlplatz with free admission until September 1.
The exhibition Making Expansive is part of the Academy's Curator-in-Residence program in cooperation with the Austrian Cultural Forum London and Central Saint Martins - University of Arts London and shows works by Academy students Theodor Maier and Anna Theresa Pöll, June Hwajung Kim as well as Janne Schipper and Red Huemer until July 19.
In addition to the Parcours diploma exhibition from June 18 to 28, the new exhibition Considering the Collection & Cranach’s Holy Productivity An Insert by Klaus Scherübel will open in the Paintings Gallery on June 26 - in addition to numerous highlights from the collection, works specially conceived for the exhibition will also be on display.
We would like to draw your attention to the following two events: On Tuesday, June 11, the Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar will present his latest projects at the Academy under the motto “It is Difficult”. The lecture will take place at 6 p.m. in the Anatomy Hall.
On Tuesday, June 25, the event Platz nehmen #2: Parliament of Delicacies will take place on Schillerplatz at 4 p.m. This time, the event is conceived and designed by students of the Institute of Art and Architecture and complemented by a performance. A parliament will be installed as an architectural intervention in and with the public in order to discuss questions about art in public space in an exchange with invited partners, participants and the audience.
In connection with events, we would like to draw your attention to the information on accessibility at the Academy. Please mention the accessibility of the locations when announcing events. Many thanks to the colleagues of the of the Working Group on Accessible Working and Studying (AG bAS) for their commitment!
And last but not least, we are pleased to announce that Noit Banai will be joining the IKW as Professor of Diaspora Aesthetics in the winter semester and Thilo Folkerts will be in charge of the Geography Landscapes Cities platform at the IKA. At the IKR, Gesa Schwantes will take up the newly created qualification position for mural restoration in the fall. Welcome to the Academy!
We look forward to seeing you at the numerous events and opportunities and wish you all a great start to the summer!