MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna

The MAK is a museum and space of experimentation for applied arts at the interface of design, architecture, and contemporary art. Its core competence lies in a contemporary exploration of these fields aimed at revealing new perspectives and elucidating discourse at the edges of the institution’s traditions. The MAK focuses its efforts on securing an adequate recognition and positioning of applied arts. It pursues new approaches to its extensive collection, which encompasses various epochs, materials, and artistic disciplines, and develops these approaches to compelling views.

The MAK is a museum for arts and the everyday world. In accordance with a modern understanding of applied arts, it strives to yield concrete benefits for everyday life. The MAK addresses our future by confronting relevant sociopolitical issues from the perspective and approach of contemporary art, applied arts, design, and architecture and, as a driving force, advocates for positive change of our society in social, ecological, and cultural terms. The interaction between applied arts and two of its special fields, design and architecture, on the one hand, and contemporary art on the other, promises a particularly powerful potential.