Valie Export and the exhibition presence in 2026
Published on 08/31/2026 at 15:17 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Valie Export remains a touchstone for institutional film and exhibition programs in 2026. Her 1971 television work Facing a Family anchors the curated film series OnView - Transformation at PalaisPopulaire in Berlin, as the institution outlines in its current program overview. Her presence in these curated formats underscores how museums and art spaces continue to frame her practice as central to debates on media, the body and spectatorship.
Film series OnView - Transformation
The Berlin institution PalaisPopulaire presents the film series OnView - Transformation as a curated program of works by international artists, including Valie Export, Lida Abdul, Vajiko Chachkhiani, Selma Selman, Sam Taylor-Johnson and Gernot Wieland. The series runs as a 41-minute compilation, with Facing a Family contributing a 4:44 minute segment that stages a family in front of a television, returning the viewer’s gaze.
PalaisPopulaire describes the OnView - Transformation edition as focusing on notions of transformation, including social and political change, transience and inertia. Within this frame, Export’s film highlights the speechlessness television can produce, emphasizing the act of watching as a central social behavior.
Collection displays and exhibitions
Beyond Berlin, MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow foregrounds Valie Export within the permanent display Challenging Experiments on Self and Others, which draws on the museum’s collection to examine self-experimentation and social critique. The MOCAK presentation positions Export’s work among contemporaries who probe the body as both subject and medium.
Earlier in 2026, the Albertina Museum in Vienna showed the work Die Geburtenmadonna within its program, as listed on Export’s own exhibition overview. This institutional anchoring continues a trajectory that included the comprehensive VALIE EXPORT Retrospective at the Albertina, which ran until October 1, 2023, and traced her media and performance practice across several decades.
Exhibitions, films and collections around Valie Export
Readers who follow Valie Export’s work can trace her institutional presence through film programs, museum displays and past retrospectives documented in the AD HOC NEWS archive.
The work core and methods
Valie Export developed a practice rooted in performance, film and conceptual interventions that foreground the female body, media structures and social control. Her work groups, including Facing a Family, Körperkonfigurationen and later installations, often place viewers in situations where their own gaze and participation become part of the work’s structure.
Export’s practice spans staged actions, video pieces and photographic works that confront institutional and everyday power relations. She frequently collaborated with broadcasters and public spaces, bringing her interventions into homes and city streets, rather than confining them to galleries.
Where the artist stands now
Valie Export’s works currently circulate in curated programs such as OnView - Transformation at PalaisPopulaire in Berlin and in permanent collection displays at institutions like MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, underscoring a sustained institutional engagement with her practice.
Key facts on Valie Export
- Artist: Valie Export
- Medium / Genre: Performance, film and conceptual art
- Born: 1940, Linz, Austria
- Place(s) of practice: Linz and Vienna, Austria
- Active since: late 1960s, with early performance and film works
- Key work groups: Facing a Family, Körperkonfigurationen, Tap and Touch Cinema, Body Configurations
- Current/last exhibition: Challenging Experiments on Self and Others, MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, ongoing collection display
- Major collections: MoMA (New York), Tate (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), MOCAK (Krakow)
- Awards: Numerous international recognitions as a pioneering feminist and media artist, including national and institutional honors documented across museum and festival tributes.
- Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Valie Export
Where is Valie Export’s work currently on view?
Valie Export’s work features in the curated film program OnView - Transformation at PalaisPopulaire in Berlin and in the permanent collection display Challenging Experiments on Self and Others at MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow.
Which Valie Export work anchors the film program in Berlin?
The PalaisPopulaire series OnView - Transformation centers her 1971 television piece Facing a Family, a 4:44 minute film that stages a family watching television and returns the gaze to the audience.
How do museums frame Valie Export’s practice today?
Institutions such as MOCAK and the Albertina emphasize her role in challenging social norms through performance and media works, highlighting pieces like Die Geburtenmadonna and the broader retrospective presentations of her oeuvre.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
