Valie Export and the film program OnView – Transformation in Berlin
Published on 08/27/2026 at 17:46 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Valie Export remains a key reference point for feminist media art and performance. Her 1971 television piece Facing a Family is currently shown in the curated film program OnView – Transformation at PalaisPopulaire in Berlin, as the institution details in its exhibition overview.
The film work at PalaisPopulaire
The Berlin institution PalaisPopulaire runs the film series OnView – Transformation from August 13 to September 21, 2026, bringing together works by Lida Abdul, Vajiko Chachkhiani, Valie Export, Selma Selman, Sam Taylor-Johnson and Gernot Wieland, as the program text notes.
Within this approximately 41-minute program, Export's film Facing a Family appears as a 4:44 minute contribution, foregrounding the act of watching television and the speechlessness it can produce, according to the curatorial description at PalaisPopulaire. The PalaisPopulaire program page describes how the selected films address different understandings of transformation in social and political contexts.
Presence in Krakow's MOCAK collection
In parallel to the Berlin program, the MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow highlights Valie Export in the permanent collection display Challenging Experiments on Self and Others, which focuses on practices that test boundaries of self and society, as the museum's exhibition overview states.
The MOCAK presentation, which is part of the larger framework of the museum's collection displays, places Export alongside other contemporary artists whose works explore experimentation on the body and social critique. The MOCAK collection page lists the display among the museum's ongoing exhibitions, underlining her sustained visibility in institutional contexts.
Further context on Valie Export's exhibitions and film works
For additional reporting on Valie Export's exhibitions, film programs and collection presentations, our archive offers more background and related news items.
The work core in performance and film
Valie Export's practice spans performance, film, photography and installation, with a strong focus on the body as a site of social inscription and resistance. Works such as Tapp- und Tast-Kino, Facing a Family and Body Sign have become canonical references in feminist art history.
Current state of the work
Valie Export's work continues to circulate internationally through curated film programs, collection displays and institutional retrospectives, with recent emphasis on her film and media pieces in both Berlin and Krakow.
Key facts on Valie Export
- Artist: Valie Export
- Medium / Genre: Performance, film and media art
- Born: 1940, Linz, Austria
- Place(s) of practice: Vienna
- Active since: Late 1960s
- Key work groups: Tapp- und Tast-Kino, Facing a Family, Body Sign
- Current/last exhibition: OnView – Transformation, PalaisPopulaire, Berlin, August 13 to September 21, 2026
- Major collections: MoMA (New York), Tate (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris), MOCAK (Krakow)
- Awards: Käthe Kollwitz Prize (2020), Oesterreichischer Staatspreis (year as documented in institutional records)
- Next date: OnView – Transformation film program, PalaisPopulaire, Berlin, running until September 21, 2026
Frequently asked questions about Valie Export
Where can Valie Export's work be seen in Berlin in August and September 2026?
Her film Facing a Family is part of the PalaisPopulaire film program OnView – Transformation, presented in Berlin from August 13 to September 21, 2026.
Which MOCAK display currently includes work by Valie Export?
The MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow integrates her work into the collection display Challenging Experiments on Self and Others, a presentation focused on experimental approaches to the body and social critique.
Why is Facing a Family considered a key work in Valie Export's practice?
The 4:44 minute film, first broadcast in 1971 on Austrian television, stages a silent family watching TV, drawing attention to media consumption and the passivity of viewers, and is widely cited as a pivotal critique within 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.
