We talk to the iconic Albertina Museum in Vienna about their one million artwork strong collection, drawing in museums, learning from their visitors, and what they think Bruegel would have made of The Big Draw’s 2017 Living Lines theme!
Vienna's iconic Albertina museum has a wealth of Big Draw events this Saturday 1st October. Explore subjects of landscape, movement, and the Universe through the lens of Living Lines as you trace a path from past to present throughout one of the most impressive collection of art in Europe! Enjoy our interview with them!
BD: The Albertina will be running a wide range of events and workshops on Sunday 1st October. Tell us a bit about thinking that went into organising your Big Draw Festival 2017, and feel free to speak about any particular highlight that you don’t want visitors to miss!
A: The Albertina houses more than one million artworks which include: sketches, prints, drawings, and photography – there is no way to exhibit them all permanently! Due to their fragility to light all these wonderful artworks can only be presented for a few months in order to protect them. So, this fall 2017 we have two fantastic shows: One is a big exhibition about Raphael. It is the biggest Raphael exhibition Austria ever had! The other one is a Bruegel exhibition with marvellous pieces. With its selection of 80 works, the Albertina presents the entire spectrum of Bruegel’s drawn and printed oeuvre! Bruegel and Raphael did not meet in person of course but they had one thing in common: Every work, they have ever done started with a drawing! Both were dedicated to create entire worlds with delicate lines. Every drawing is a manifestation of history!
BD: The collection at The Albertina is absolutely immense! What are some challenges you have found when planning to run a series of Big Draw Festival events amongst such a huge variety of artworks and objects?
A: I think, working with so many beautiful artworks is always a challenge we love to accept. We are looking to forward to learning from our visitors. How do they experience such a big event, celebrating not only creativity of former centuries but also of today?
BD: What does the concept of ‘Visual Literacy’ mean to the team at The Albertina and your events programmes? Do you think improving a person’s visual literacy enables them to view the collections in large museums or galleries in a different way?
A: Of course! The more you know about art the more your mind opens up for you whole environment.
Pieter Bruegel The Elder 'Summer 1568' , © Hamburger Kunsthalle / bpk Photo: Christoph Irrgang
BD: You have a fantastic looking exhibition on at the moment of drawings by one of my favourite Old Masters, Pieter Bruegel. Bruegel captured everyday scenes as well as some of the most otherworldly things ever drawn. What do you think he would make of The Big Draw Festival, were he around today?
A:Oh, he definitively would have fun! I think he would love to stroll around incognito and observe the visitors in the museum, how they behave, how they move, what they see and explore, how art affects them. What a sparkling source of studying the broad variety of culture and humanity!
BD: If you could choose one work from The Albertina’s collection that really embodies the Living Lines theme of activity, movement and animation, what do you think it would be?
A: Actually,for me, it is not an artwork. You know, there is a luxury red carpet leading to the Habsburg Staterooms. (The Albertina is not only a museum but also a historic palais.) Every morning this carpet gets vacuumed. Before the museum opens – this carpet is perfectly done, it is pure innocence. But when the Albertina closes its doors in the evening – this carpet could tell a lot of stories! This is my embodiment of living lines in the Albertina.
BD: Great answer – drawing teaches us to really LOOK, and it’s clearly working for you! Thanks very much for answering our questions- we wish you all the best with your Big Draw Festival events. Any final words?
A: Just that we're so grateful to be part of such a wonderful festival!
Pieter Bruegel The Elder 'The Painter and The Buyer', ca. 1565, © The Albertina Museum, Vienna
The Albertina Museum is a Big Draw Festival 2017 Sponsor-Partner.
The Big Draw's worldwide impact is made possible by the support of many organisations and individuals who share its vision. Without them and the commitment of hundreds of venues across the globe, our mission would be unachievable. Interested in becoming a festival Sponsor-Partner? Take a look here for some of the benefits.
Visit a Big Draw #LivingLines17 event near you this October:
Find events in the UK HERE or WORLDWIDE HERE. Or search by date HERE.
Click below to join our Big Draw Festival 2017 local events mailer, add your postcode with your e-mail, and we'll send you a weekly round up of all the events happening near you this October:
BECOME A BIG DRAW FESTIVAL ORGANISER!
We hope you enjoyed our interview with The Albertina Museum! If you have been inspired by their insights why not become a part of the world's largest drawing festival in 2017?
Anyone can organise an event, and you can register at any time! Click below to find out more about becoming a Big Draw Festival Organiser in 2017 for #LivingLines17: 
With thanks to Friederike Lassy-Beelitz and The Albertina Museum
Meet the Living Line in the Albertina in Vienna / Austria | Presented by Raffael and Pieter Bruegel
Beim Internationalen Festival für Zeichenkunst dreht sich in der Albertina alles um die Lust am Zeichnen: Entdecken Sie am 1. Oktober 2017 die Zeichnung als Form des Denkens, Erspürens und Erfindens. Erleben Sie die Kunst Raffaels und Pieter Bruegels d.Ä. aus ungewöhnlichen Perspektiven – es erwarten Sie zahlreiche Führungen, vielseitige Workshops von KünstlerInnen und ein einmaliges Kunsterlebnis in den Ausstellungen.
Kunstbegeisterte erhalten an diesem Tag Zeichenmaterialien, mit denen Sie nach Herzenslust vor den Originalen von Raffael und Bruegel zeichnen können.
Experimentierfreudige finden in den Kunst-Workshops viele Linien zum Leben zu erwecken.
Das detaillierte Programm ist unter www.albertina.at abrufbar.