With a clear programmatic vision and a spirit of openness, mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien is entering a new phase under the leadership of Fatima Hellberg, who assumed the role of General Director on 1 October 2025. Hellberg’s aim is to establish the museum more firmly as a space where past, present, and future engage in meaningful dialogue.

“A museum lives through what it absorbs and what it gives back,” says Fatima Hellberg. “It responds to its time, evolves, and forges new connections between art, people, and ideas.”

With Roots to Grow
Hellberg’s programming draws inspiration from the museum’s progressive origins. It reactivates the founding impulse of the Museum of the 20th Century, which was established in 1962 in a spirit of cultural optimism, with the aim of integrating contemporary art into everyday life. In the words of the museum’s founding director, Werner Hofmann: “We need the courage to place the monument alongside the document, the masterpiece alongside the as-yet unconfirmed phenomenon of its time.” Channeling this spirit, Hellberg aims to inaugurate a rejuvenated approach to curatorial thinking at mumok—one that does not only speak about art, but with art. 

For Fatima Hellberg, these roots are the foundation for the future: “Our history is not a static legacy but a foundation on which new things can grow. We carry this spirit forward with openness, precision, and curiosity.”