Ariane Mueller talks with curator Jeanette Pacher not only about her current exhibition in Secession’s iconic exhibition hall, but also speaks about her experience of initiating projects, sharing space, ideas, and resources, and the importance of collaborating – providing broader insight into her creative practice and understanding as an artist. This episode was recorded on 3 June 2025, a week after the opening of Ariane Mueller’s exhibition:

Ariane Mueller
Fish are folded into the sea just as the sea is folded into fish
29.5. – 31.8.2025

Ariane Mueller’s preoccupation with war, which is at the heart of the exhibition Fish are folded into the sea just as the sea is folded into fish, has a long and complex history. Decades ago, in the early 1990s, she came into contact with the conflict in Yugoslavia through her work on the art magazine Artfan (1991–1996), which she edited together with the artist Linda Bilda. Slovenian writers wanted to place articles in Artfan in which they called for arms supplies to their country in support of its war with Serbia. Unsure how to handle the situation, the artists travelled to Zagreb shortly after the war began. As a delegate to the United Nations for many years, Mueller was later also faced with the Iraq War. More

Ariane Mueller – born in Vienna – studied in Barcelona – Austrian delegate to UN-HABITAT from 1996 to 2013 – based in Berlin since 1995 – editor of Artfan, Vienna (1991–1996) – from 1998 to today co-editor of Starship, Berlin – publisher, Starship Verlag – novelist: Handbuch für die Reise durch Afrika [Handbook for Traveling Through Africa], 2013 – visual artist exhibiting internationally: MCA Sydney Museum Ludwig Cologne, Akademie der Künste Berlin, Berlin Biennale, Havana Biennale – exhibition curator: Werkleitz Biennale: Common Property 2004; Dispossession, Künstlerhaus Wien 2021; on mimesis and other mild disOrientations in space, WAF Gallery, Vienna 2023 on the theme of one’s own disappearance in the gaze of the other (as happens in engaging with all forms of artificial intelligence).

Jeanette Pacher is a curator at the Vienna Secession since 2007. She is a regular lecturer in the Department of Site-Specific Art at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and since 2023, a jury member of KÖR – Art in Public Space Vienna.

Secession Podcast: Artists features artists exhibiting at the Secession.
The Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.
Programmed by the board of the Secession.

Jingle: Hui Ye with an excerpt from Combat of dreams for string quartet and audio feed (2016, Christine Lavant Quartett) by Alexander J. Eberhard
Audio Editor: Paul Macheck
Executive Producer: Jeanette Pacher