Kunsthalle Wien's Anti-Capitalist Exhibition Questions Global Dreams of the Good Life

The exhibition titled "...of bread, wine, cars, security and peace" took place at Kunsthalle Wien Museumsquartier in Vienna from March 3 to October 4, 2020. Curated by the collective What, How & for Whom (WHW)—comprising Ivet Ćurlin, Ana Dević, Nataša Ilić, and Sabina Sabolović—it showcased approximately thirty-five artists from around the globe, offering critiques of capitalism and the notion of the "good life." The conceptual framework was influenced by Bilal Khbeiz's "Globalization and the Manufacture of Transient Events" and Lauren Berlant's "Cruel Optimism." Notable works included Mladen Stilinović's "For Marie Antoinette '68," Andreas Siekmann's "Heads," Adji Dieye's "Maggic Cube," Tuan Andrew Nguyen's film, and Zach Blas's "Contra-Internet: Jubilee 2033." This exhibition, which opened on International Women's Day, also addressed issues such as social reproduction, ecological crises, and global inequalities, coinciding with Austria's political changes under Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.