VIENNA.- Vienna will be back in the art world limelight between 13 and 19 November 2017 when, once again, Vienna Art Week offers a comprehensive look at the Viennese art scene, bringing together some 200 high-caliber events from 70 program partners.

Headed by the motto Transforming Technology, this year’s Vienna Art Week takes rapid technological developments and their aesthetic analysis and processing as its theme. New technologies have always had a visible impact on art as well:

“Art can seismographically measure and critically reflect on the latest technological developments, push ‘analogue’ counter-movements such as the revival of craftsmanship and material-aesthetic tendencies, and ultimately recognize and articulate quality in a broad field of randomness,” says Robert Punkenhofer, Artistic Director of Vienna Art Week 2017.

Successfully introduced last year, the performative interview marathon will see a continuation in the MAK portico under the name Art & Technology Line-up: a number of top experts and artists will convene on Tuesday to discuss the topic in a variety of ways. Anticipated guests include, among others, François Roche with an avatar appearance, media theorist Geert Lovink and cyborg activist Moon Ribas. Discussion panel participants on topics related to science, art and technology include multimedia artist Virgil Widrich, sociologist and filmmaker Christina Lammer and artists Axel Stockburger, Gerald Nestler and Antoni Muntadas. The marathon concludes in the afternoon with a discussion featuring international curators and a film screening with Berlin-based film curator Florian Wüst.

Alternative Space Open House marks a new program highlight on Wednesday. Vienna’s emerging art scene has become more self-organized in recent years, birthing a range of different alternative spaces. A special tour offers a chance to explore a selection of these productive territories.

The crowd-pleasing Open Studio Day, now a mainstay of VIENNA ART WEEK, is scheduled for Saturday. Around 50 artists will open their studio doors to the public. Visitors are welcome to join a number of tours through artists’ workspaces, artist-in-residence studios and public art projects.

High-profile talks and panels – including two panel discussions at DOROTHEUM focusing on art collectors and the art market – constitute another key part of the program.

The Austrian capital’s most important exhibition venues, art spaces and galleries contribute significantly to the success of the art week with their high-profile openings, interventions, screenings, guided tours and discussions. VIENNA ART WEEK was started in 2004 with the goal of shifting international attention to the city’s art scene.

“Vienna Art Week is an ideal opportunity to experience the city’s art scene on different levels, and to use it as a platform for discussion and exchange,” says Martin Böhm, President of Art Cluster Vienna, the host of the festival.

Over 35,000 Austrian and international guests visited VIENNA ART WEEK last year.