Touch Nature

The multimedia exhibition ​”Touch Nature” showcases international artists and their takes on the devastating political, economic, ecological and humanitarian consequences of the Anthropocene. It becomes quite clear in the process that, in addition to documenting grievances and formulating strategies of resistance, these artists also provide blueprints for utopias. 

The economic exploitation of huge tracts of land, rising levels of soil sealing and the global effects of consumerism are addressed alongside the capitalist manipulation of waste. A series of cooperative ventures, some of which are interdisciplinary in character, results in art projects that deal with the global food situation, the spread of epidemics and the consequences of colonialism, aiming at a change of perspective. The exhibition develops encouraging visions of a new relationship between humanity and nature and of an approach to our environment marked by mindfulness and respect.

The exhibition is based on a series of exhibitions of the same name that were shown in twelve of Austria’s Forums of Culture in Europe and the United States between 2021 and 2024. This allowed Austrian artists to enter into a creative dialogue with artists of the host countries. The show at the Lentos presents a summary of this series of exhibitions and supplements it with international works of art. Its roughly 100 artists present a multinational overview of the current engagement with the climate crisis and the destruction of our environment. It is in the spirit of Alexander von Humboldt, a pioneer of ecological thinking, who famously wrote to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1810: ​“Nature must be felt.”

Curator and exhibition concept: Sabine Fellner

Project assistance: Laurenz Fellner

Exhibition design: wienerhalle

Artists

Works by, among others Werke u.a. von Uli Aigner, Iris Andraschek, Matei Bejenaru, Julius von Bismarck, Vanja Bučan, Flor­iama Candea, Laura Codruța Cernea, Adriana Chiruta, Sevda Chkoutova, Larisa Crunțeanu, Mark Dion, Veronika Dirnhofer, Ines Doujak, Anna Dumitriu/​Alex May, Latifah Echakhch, Christian Eisenberger, Titanilla Eisenhart, Michael Endlicher, İnci Eviner, Thomas Feuerstein, Andrea Francolino, Dorothee Frank/​Ben Fodor, Birgit Graschopf, Nicola Hackl-Haslinger, Maximilian Haidacher, Jitka Hanzlová, Peter Hauenschild, Beáta Hechtová, Edgar Honetschläger, Anaïs Horn, Alfred Hruschka, Barbara Anna Husar/​Elmar Bertsch, Gözde İlkin, Nona Inescu, Fatoş İrwen, Tobias Izsó, Maren Jeleff/​Klaus Pichler, Sabine Jelinek, Anna Jermolaewa, Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Johanna Kandl, Eginhartz Kanter, Anton Kehrer, Kitty Kino, Aurora Király, Alexandra Kontriner, Nina Koželj, David Kranzelbinder, Elena Kristofor, Hans Kupelwieser, Antonio Kutleša, Christiane Löhr, Linda Luse, Haruko Maeda, Péter Mátyási, Claudia Märzendorfer, Katharina Meister, Ferdinand Melichar, Karina Mendreczky, Sylvie de Meurville, Ana Maria Micu, Claire Morgan, Alois Mosbacher, Yvonne Oswald, Monika Pichler, Margot Pilz, PRINZpod, Julia Reichmayr, Oliver Ressler, Hubert Roithner, Gregor Sailer, Elisabeth von Samsonow, Davor Sanvincenti, Judith Saupper, Hans Schabus, Scheibe & Güntzel, Ramona Schnekenburger, Gabriele Schöne, Martin Schrampf, Claudia Schumann, Marielis Seyler, Milica Simonović, Rebecca Smith, Paul Spendier, Oana Stanciu, Thomas Stimm, Mircea Suciu, Maria Szakats, Adrienn Újházi, Hana Usui, Dan Vezentan, Judith Wagner, Manfred Wakolbinger, Violetta Wakolbinger, Betsy Weis, Nives Widauer, Eva Yurková, Laurent Ziegler/​Georg Blaschke