tranzit.at is the Vienna hub of tranzit.org, a network of independent initiatives in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovak Republic. tranzit.org operates as a collective of these autonomous local units, cooperating across various borders – between nations, languages, media, mentalities and histories.
tranzit.at was founded in 2004. Its aim is to challenge the post-fordist idea of cultural production and of the cultural institution in the categories of efficiency and relevance. tranzit.at is dedicated to the research of long-term counter canonical artistic practices and engaging in translocal collaborations beyond the event and across disciplines.
We believe in the liberty of the contemporary art institution to lead a “blind”, unframed, poetical research conducted by socially valuable beings; in experiments; in iconoclastic, hybridizing, transgressive, resistant, localized and situated concepts of cultural practices; and in impure theory.
Legally tranzit.at is a non-profit charitable Civic Association.
tranzit.at’s main partner is the ERSTE Foundation.
tranzit is a unique network of civic associations working independently in the field of contemporary art in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania and across the borders of a wider Europe. Its main goal is to support and articulate emancipatory practices, establish connections between culture and society by moving across geographies, generations, and political realms.
For more than a decade, tranzit has been a critical (and self-critical) platform, which challenged established canons of post-war European (art) histories. It has promoted contemporary art practices, theory and social discourses with an aim to contribute to present-day mobilizations of solidarity and community-building in a Europe of narrowing nationalism, cultural essentialism, growing economic egoism, and social as well as gender inequality.
Each tranzit works under its own conditions in a variety of local cultural and social contexts, using different formats and methods to contextualize, generate or host theoretical, artistic and activist debates around today’s urgencies. Activities range from exhibitions, thematic projects, seminars, publications based on long-term research and participatory interventions into the public discourse.
We believe in the liberty of the contemporary art institution to lead a risky, unframed, poetical and political research; in experiments; in transgressive, resistant, localized and situated concepts of cultural practices, in experimental forms of education and research; and in impure theory.
ERSTE Foundation is main part of tranzit.
https://sk.tranzit.org/en/about