viennacontemporary Announces New Artistic Director and Curators for 2025 Edition

viennacontemporary, Austria’s leading fair for contemporary art, is pleased to announce the appointment of Abaseh Mirvali as Artistic Director ahead of the upcoming eleventh edition, taking place from September 11–14, 2025. Mirvali is an internationally respected curator and museum director whose career spans Europe, the Americas, and the Near East.

Additionally, Marcella Beccaria, Samantha Ozer, and Aliaksei Barysionak have been selected to curate the fair’s renowned special sections: STATEMENT, CONTEXT, and ZONE1.

New Artistic Direction: Abaseh Mirvali

As Guest Artistic Advisor for 2025 and Artistic Director for 2026, Abaseh Mirvali brings over two decades of experience in cultural leadership and curatorial innovation. Her previous roles include Executive Director of Fundación/Colección Jumex Arte Contemporáneo (Mexico City), Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, and the Biennial of the Americas. She has also collaborated with major international art fairs such as ArteBA (Buenos Aires), Artissima (Turin), miart (Milan), and Art Basel.

Mirvali’s approach is grounded in collaboration, civic engagement, and international dialogue, aiming to position viennacontemporary as a platform that connects Austria and Central and Eastern Europe with wider global discourses.

A long-time advocate of Vienna’s cultural landscape, Mirvali first engaged with the city through curated by, one of its most acclaimed curatorial initiatives. She curated the Solo Expanded section at viennacontemporary in 2016, bridging emerging voices with established practices. She continues to champion Viennese artists and institutions internationally.

Abaseh Mirvali:
“My approach to leading viennacontemporary is grounded in a deep respect for the cultural and civic landscape of Vienna and Austria. At a time of accelerated change across the art world, we must be agile and intentional—building a fair that reflects both the complexity of our moment and the strength of our shared commitments and shaping a program and platform that is rigorous, dynamic, and forward-looking.”

Under Mirvali’s leadership, the fair will continue to evolve as a site for curatorial inquiry and reflection on pressing cultural and political issues, reinforcing Austria’s role as a dynamic center for contemporary art.

Curated Sections for 2025

viennacontemporary’s curated sections—STATEMENT, CONTEXT, and ZONE1—are key platforms for research-driven exhibitions and discursive programming.

STATEMENT: Realities Building

Curated by Marcella Beccaria

Initiated in 2022 in response to the war in Ukraine and supported by ERSTE Foundation, STATEMENT addresses urgent sociopolitical issues through exhibitions and discussions. In 2025, the section focuses on algorithmic control, digital disinformation, and technological manipulation.

This year’s edition, titled Realities Building, is curated by Marcella Beccaria, Chief Curator and Head of Collections at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Turin). The exhibition centers on film, sound, and performance, exploring how time-based media can stimulate critical thinking.

Realities Building presents artists working across global contexts, promoting alternative forms of resistance and advocating for individual freedom within our digitally mediated reality.

Marcella Beccaria is an art historian, curator, and author who has organized major exhibitions at Castello di Rivoli including shows by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen, Vito Acconci, Marinella Senatore, Jan Dibbets, Gilberto Zorio, and Nalini Malani, among many others.

CONTEXT

Curated by Samantha Ozer

Launched in 2024, CONTEXT highlights artistic positions from the late 20th century, linking artists from Central and Eastern Europe with global counterparts. In 2025, Samantha Ozer curates this section of ten solo presentations.

Ozer is Curator-at-Large at Canyon, founder of TONO (a nonprofit for time-based art), and has curated at institutions including the Serpentine Galleries, MoMA, and MIT Media Lab. Her projects have spanned the Venice Biennale, Seoul’s NMCA, WIELS (Brussels), and CAM Gulbenkian (Lisbon).

Samantha Ozer:
“I’m thrilled to work with the new Artistic Director Abaseh Mirvali and the viennacontemporary team to continue shaping this section.”

ZONE1 – The Next Generation

Curated by Aliaksei Barysionak

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025, ZONE1 is supported by the Federal Ministry for Housing, Art, Culture, Media, and Sports (BMWKMS) and features solo exhibitions by ten artists under 40 with strong ties to Austria.

For the first time, ZONE1 will be curated internally by Aliaksei Barysionak, a curator, writer, and member of viennacontemporary’s team, who recently co-curated the Matter of Art Biennale 2024 in Prague.

This year’s ZONE1 will foreground practices exploring migration, queerness, affect, and critical feminism, spanning painting, media installations, and hybrid forms. Barysionak aims to amplify underrepresented practices vital to Vienna’s art scene.

Aliaksei Barysionak (b. 1992, Belarus) is a Vienna-based curator and former fellow at the Vera List Center for Art and Politics (NYC). His writing appears in e-flux journal, springerin, and L’Internationale Online. Since 2020, he has worked closely with Central and Eastern European galleries within viennacontemporary.

Abaseh Mirvali, Photo: Mary McCartney