Criticism of politics

Valie Export: “Where did it go wrong?”

Valie Export: "I have a very good year ahead of me"

(Bild: Wenzel Markus/Markus Wenzel)

Valie Export, one of Austria's best-known artists, believes that "women will soon have to fight again". Born in Linz, she has been writing art history since the 1960s with her feminist performances. She has not yet received the Grand Austrian State Prize. 2025 would be an opportunity to make up for lost time: She celebrates her 85th birthday on May 17.

Did the age of #MeToo begin in 1968? Back then, Valie Export let passers-by touch her naked breasts in a box for a few seconds. The "touch and feel cinema" made art history and is still unrivaled today in terms of feminist performance. And it is highly topical, addressing the voyeuristic and sexist view of women's bodies at the time, as the #MeToo debate is doing again today.

Valie Export, who was born Waltraud Lehner in Linz in 1940, is considered a pioneer of media and performance art, albeit with a focus on feminism.

On May 17, 2025, she celebrates her 85th birthday, a good opportunity to give her the highest award in the field of art - the State Prize.

She says: "I never received the Grand Austrian State Prize, that's right. I've been denied it until now." As an artist who is still working and commenting on current developments, is Export simply too uncomfortable?

Relapse into old role models in politics
She currently regrets a social regression, which is also reflected in women's politics. "These developments are very tragic, also for society. Women are having to fight again. That makes me sad and angry."

In the 1970s, for example, women still had to ask their husbands whether they were allowed to work. "You can't imagine that today. But when I think that something like that could happen again, I have to say: What happened here? Where did it go wrong?"

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Export archive as an open center in Linz
The City of Linz acquired Valie Export's estate back in 2015. Documentation, videos, books, photos and works are housed in the Valie Export Center in the Linz tobacco factory and are available for research. "This is very pleasant and exciting for me. I was very enthusiastic about the idea right from the start. I think it's nice to be able to pass something on," says Export.

The exhibition "Cache" can be seen at the Lentos Art Museum until January 12: The Center and four artists deal with archiving processes of feminist art.