Establishment of a permanent Professorship for Contemporary Art at the University of Vienna

Petition to the Rectorate of the University of Vienna Academic Senate of the University of Vienna Academic Council of the University of Vienna Dean's Office of the Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies Director of the Institute for Art History

Vienna, December 2018

PETITION

Magnificence! Spectabilis! Dear Sir or Madam,

The employment of Prof. Noit Banai at the Department of Art History in Vienna comes to an end with the 2019 summer term. In the past five years, Prof. Banai has taken what was an unspecific §99 professorship in the field of research, theory and teaching and has transformed it into something worthy of becoming an academic chair for contemporary art. With the termination of her employment, we students of this department are confronted with tangible challenges and pressing questions. Therefore, we see an urgent need for action.

We students will lose the opportunity to specialize in the field of contemporary art. The imminent departure of Prof. Banai will not only affect those whose ongoing master theses she supervises but also the art history department in general, which—previously dedicated to the expansion of art genres and their boundaries as well as the merging of theory and practice—will lose an entire field of study.

The examination of contemporary art and its practices involves a great breadth of knowledge and heightened sensibilities, which continuously expand the methodological and content-related framework of traditional narratives of art history. A globalized (art) world requires open, interdisciplinary, feminist and decolonialised discourses that deal with current developments and apply new methods of scientific analysis, along with more conventional approaches. With its long tradition of being a leader in the field of art history, dating back to the Vienna School of Art History and even earlier, the Department of Art History at the University of Vienna has a responsibility to incorporate these new methodologies to retain its academic reputation.

Currently, the Department of Art History does not have an academic chair for contemporary art. If the department wishes to keep pace with international developments, it must offer a comprehensive range of courses. Only an independent professorship for contemporary art can meet the demands of participating in the very latest developments in the study, teaching and research of contemporary art in its international context. Thus, we consider the establishment of such an academic chair an absolute necessity as well as a great opportunity for students and professors alike, and for future art historians, curators, theoreticians, critics, art mediators and exhibition designers, to form a solid basis for their actions in a continually evolving art and professional world.