KREMS.- Karikaturmuseum Krems will celebrate its 25th anniversary with the simultaneous opening of three exhibitions on July 18, bringing together political satire, children’s illustration and feminist humor in a program designed to appeal to visitors of different generations.
The anniversary presentations include This HADERER, a major survey devoted to Austrian satirist Gerhard Haderer; The NEINhorn by Marc-Uwe Kling and Astrid Henn, an interactive exhibition based on the popular children’s books; and Femflixt!*, a collaborative project by artists Astrid Langer and Judith Lava.
Admission will be free throughout the opening day, which will feature guided tours, family activities, a picture-book presentation and reading, as well as a signing session with Haderer, Langer and Lava.
Museum director Gottfried Gusenbauer and curator Anna Steinmair said the three exhibitions reflect the breadth of caricature and satire, from sharp political commentary to humor intended for children and families.
A central highlight is the return of Gerhard Haderer, who last had a solo exhibition at the museum a decade ago. Organized to coincide with the artist’s 75th birthday, This HADERER is described as the most extensive presentation of his work to date.
Born in Leonding near Linz in 1951, Haderer has become one of the most influential satirical artists in the German-speaking world. His drawings frequently examine political hypocrisy, consumer culture, religious authority and the increasingly strange rituals of contemporary life.
The exhibition presents him as both a precise draftsman and an uncompromising social critic. Through carefully observed details, understated irony and often uncomfortable humor, Haderer turns everyday scenes into reflections on power, vanity and contradiction.
Among the works on view are original drawings from his controversial book The Life of Jesus, held in the State Collections of Lower Austria. The drawings reflect his long-standing interest in examining religious institutions and the structures of authority surrounding them.
The exhibition will also offer an unusual opportunity to see a large group of Haderer’s photorealistic oil paintings together. Arranged around the seasons, the works range from lush summer landscapes to autumn scenes dominated by leaf blowers and irreverent winter images of figures urinating in the snow.
Presented almost in their entirety for the first time, the paintings reveal a slower and more atmospheric side of an artist best known for the immediate impact of his cartoons.
Haderer’s wider commitment to artistic independence and resistance will also be explored through projects including the School of Disobedience and the Kaktus Cartoon Award.
The anniversary program takes a different turn with The NEINhorn, devoted to the stubborn and much-loved unicorn created by author Marc-Uwe Kling and illustrator Astrid Henn.
The character, whose defining response to almost everything is an emphatic “No,” has become a favorite among children and adults for its playful rejection of conventional fairy-tale sweetness.
The exhibition brings together texts and around 30 illustrations from The NEINhorn, The NEINhorn and the Birthday and The NEINhorn and the SchLANGEWEILE. Preliminary color studies and black-and-white sketches offer visitors an insight into the development of the books and the process behind Henn’s illustrations.
Rather than simply displaying artwork on walls, the museum has created an environment in which families can enter the fictional world of the books. Installations include a reading sofa, a carpeted green meadow with pink seating rocks, audiobooks narrated by Kling and a collaborative Heartwood Forest wall.
Visitors can also take part in a large-scale game and encounter the “Tower of Total Gloom,” with the exhibition emphasizing language, imagination and collective play.
The third exhibition, Femflixt!*, brings the humor of Astrid Langer and Judith Lava into conversation with Haderer’s social criticism while shifting the focus toward contemporary female experience.
Using figures that include a herd of unicorns, a centaur sculpture, a rebellious roof tile and the fictional character Lili, the artists examine stereotypes, gender roles and the social expectations placed on women.
Their work approaches feminism through wit, self-mockery and visual absurdity rather than instruction. The exhibition argues that feminist art can remain politically engaged while also being playful, surprising and accessible.
All three exhibitions will remain on view through June 30, 2027.
The museum’s anniversary celebration will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 18, with free admission, family workshops, guided tours and activities connected to The NEINhorn. A signing session with Haderer, Langer and Lava will follow the exhibition opening from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Haderer will also take part in an artist talk on July 19, while Langer and Lava are scheduled to discuss their work at the museum on March 7, 2027.
By placing a celebrated political cartoonist alongside rebellious children’s literature and contemporary feminist satire, Karikaturmuseum Krems is using its anniversary not simply to look back, but to demonstrate how humor can continue to challenge authority, dismantle expectations and bring very different audiences into the same conversation.
