2023-12-06 09:51:14
in the picture: State Secretary for Art and Culture Andrea Mayer with (from left to right): Sabine Loitfellner (author), Birgit Kirchmayr and Pia Schölnberger (editors of the anthology “Restituted. 25 Years of the Art Restitution Act in Austria”), Cornelius Obonya (actor / reading ), Clemens Jabloner, (Chairman of the Art Restitution Advisory Board), Ethel Merhaut (vocals), Belush Korenyi (piano) Photo: BMKÖS/HBF/Pusch
The art restitution law is still unique in the world today. It came into force on December 5, 1998. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary, the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Public Service and Sport invited people to a ceremony on December 5, 2023 in the former state bank headquarters in Vienna’s Hohenstaufengasse.
Numerous guests took part in the celebration, including heirs of formerly persecuted collectors, museum directors, members of the art restitution advisory board and provenance researchers. The event was opened by Art and Culture State Secretary Andrea Mayer and the chairman of the Art Restitution Advisory Board, Clemens Jabloner.
State Secretary for Art and Culture Andrea Mayer:
“I would like to thank all those people who ensure that provenance research in federal collections and art restitution in our country are of the highest quality, and who always keep an eye on the people behind the objects.
At the same time, October 7, 2023 made us painfully aware of where the vanishing point of our culture of remembrance lies: in our willingness to stand up at any time once morest the very own form of exclusion and persecution of people – once morest anti-Semitism in all its varieties.
Anti-Semitism has no place in our society. It is the obligation of all of us to continue to assume responsibility towards those who were once persecuted and their families – and thus towards ourselves.”
Clemens Jabloner, Chairman of the Art Restitution Advisory Board:
“Researching, retelling and documenting the fates of so many people from different social classes is an important and beautiful task. It is essential for Austrian memory and for the family memory of all those descendants who, following so many decades, have not only one more or not only get a less valuable piece back, but also have part of their origin and identity confirmed. This is where the meticulousness, curiosity and commitment of the provenance researchers and their ministerial control come into their own.”
Anthology “Restituted. 25 Years of the Art Restitution Act in Austria”
The anthology is on the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Art Restitution Act Restituted. 25 years of the art restitution law in Austria published by Czernin-Verlag.
Volume 9 of the series was presented by the two editors Birgit Kirchmayr and Pia Schölnberger. At the festival, author Sabine Loitfellner and actor Cornelius Obonya, who lent his voice to the late author Leonhard Weidinger, told exemplary case studies from the volume.
Birgit Kirchmayr, Pia Schölnberger (eds.)
Restitutes 25 years of the art restitution law in Austria
Czernin Publishing House
(6.12.2023)
1701860454
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