in the photo: State Secretary for Art and Culture Andrea Mayer with (from left to right): Sabine Loitfellner (author), Birgit Kirchmayr and Pia Schölnberger (editors of the anthology “Restituted. 25 Years of the Art Restitution Law in Austria” ), Cornelius Obonya (actor/reading), Clemens Jabloner, (Chairman of the Art Restitution Advisory Board), Ethel Merhaut (vocals), Belush Korenyi (piano) Photo: BMKÖS/HBF/Pusch
Art restitution law is still unique in the world today. It came into force on December 5, 1998. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary, the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Public Service and Sport invited people to a ceremony on December 5, 2023 at the former headquarters of the state bank in Hohenstaufengasse, in Vienna.
Various guests attended the celebration, including heirs of previously persecuted collectors, museum directors, art restitution advisory board members, and provenance researchers. The event was opened by the Secretary of State for Art and Culture, Andrea Mayer, and the president of the Art Restitution Advisory Council, Clemens Jabloner.
Secretary of State for Art and Culture Andrea Mayer:
“I would like to thank all the people who ensure that provenance research on federal collections and art restitutions in our country is of the highest quality and who always keep an eye on the people behind the objects.
At the same time, October 7, 2023 made us painfully aware of where the vanishing point of our culture of memory lies: in our willingness to stand up at any moment against the very form of exclusion and persecution of people – against anti-Semitism in all its varieties.
Anti-Semitism has no place in our society. It is the obligation of all of us to continue to take responsibility to those who have been persecuted and their families – and therefore to ourselves.”
Clemens Jabloner, President of the Art Restitution Advisory Board:
“Researching, recounting and documenting the fate of so many people from different social classes is an important and beautiful task. It is essential for Austrian memory and for the family memory of all those descendants who, after so many decades, not only have one more or not only recover a piece of lesser value, but also have part of their origin and identity confirmed. This is where the meticulousness, curiosity and commitment of provenance researchers and their ministerial control come into play.”
Anthology “Restituted. 25 years of the Art Restitution Law in Austria”
On the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Art Restitution Law, the anthology was restituted. 25 years of art restitution law in Austria published by Czernin-Verlag.
Volume 9 of the series was presented by the two editors Birgit Kirchmayr and Pia Schölnberger. At the festival, author Sabine Loitfellner and actor Cornelius Obonya, who lent his voice to the late author Leonhard Weidinger, told exemplary case studies from the volume.
Birgit Kirchmayr, Pia Schölnberger (eds.)
Restore 25 years of art restitution law in Austria
Czernin Publishing
(December 6, 2023)