A museum thrives on perspectives
The Belvedere Stories
Art, Insides and Points of view
Lisa Ebner-Kollmann
Belvedere, Wien
AI-generated
In 2025, over 2 million people decided to spend their free time at the Belvedere. They bought tickets, booked guided tours, wandered through baroque rooms, or experienced contemporary art.
But where does a museum visit really begin and end?
Sometimes it starts long before entering the building – with travel planning, a recommendation, or a social media post. And often it continues beyond the visit: an image remains in the memory, a conversation is continued, a thought lingers.
How we experience art depends not only on the exhibition, but also on our own experiences, expectations, and perspectives. A visit to a museum raises questions and thoughts that can often only be initiated in the exhibition space—and continue to have an effect beyond it.
This is where Belvedere Stories comes in. In this space, the Belvedere will regularly publish articles that take up these thoughts and continue them online.
Belvedere Stories bring together background information, contextualization, and different perspectives, making them accessible beyond the museum visit.
Such a space is no substitute for direct encounters with art. It is an invitation to prepare for, deepen, or further reflect on these encounters.
Why Belvedere Stories?
The Belvedere brings together artworks from different eras and expertise from various disciplines. It is a place where history, the present, and social issues converge. At the same time, the museum welcomes children and adults, locals and tourists from all over the world.
This diversity is a strength—and a challenge. Different perspectives require different approaches. Not every question can be answered in the exhibition space, not every background can be explored in depth in a catalog.
Belvedere Stories sees itself as a connecting element between exhibition, education, publication, and social media. It provides orientation, enables deeper understanding, and opens up new perspectives. Accessible online—even beyond the museum visit—it takes up topics that begin in the exhibition space, continues conversations and provides insights into the processes that shape an art museum.
Exhibitions, Tips & Behind the Scenes
Belvedere Stories address questions that arise in the museum—and continue to resonate beyond it: Who is this contemporary artist? Why is Gustav Klimt so famous? What can be discovered at the Belvedere with children? And how are events at the museum created?
Recurring formats address these and many other topics week after week. Art educators and curators have their say, as do experts from the fields of restoration, communication, or journalism. This results in contextualization, background information, and perspectives that make art history accessible and open up new angles.
"Such a space is no substitute for direct encounters with art. It is an invitation to prepare for, deepen, or further reflect on these encounters."
Diverse formats instead of uniform answers
Belvedere Stories make knowledge accessible in a variety of ways. Those who are short on time can read a compact article about a newly opened exhibition on their way to work. Those who want to dive in will find in-depth texts after visiting the exhibition that explore topics further and expand contexts. Children, young people, and families will find articles that spark curiosity and raise their own questions.
Belvedere Stories respond to different interests, experiences, and realities of life. Their aim is to convey sound knowledge in a precise and accessible way—with an awareness of diverse perspectives and an alert eye on the present.
A beginning – with room for growth
Belvedere Stories take up topics that concern the Belvedere and our society—regardless of an exhibition’s duration or an algorithm.
They record questions and search for answers – answers that may change over time to respond to new contexts. The result is an open archive of thoughts that grows alongside the museum and its visitors.
Belvedere Stories remain open to new perspectives and ongoing reflection on (art) history and the present.
Because a museum thrives on perspectives. Belvedere Stories is one of them.
