The VIENNAFAIR - the international contemporary art fair - is taking place for the fifth time this year at Messe Wien in Vienna. 124 internationally renowned galleries, 46 of them from Austria and 29 from the featured regions of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, are coming to spotlight their established stars and newcomers alike, and to display a wide range of contemporary art. The event also offers a broad spread of museums and art institutions, panel discussions featuring leading figures from within the art world, and various guided tours.

Daily	VIENNAFAIR Panel Program 2009
	VIENNAFAIR, Halle A, departure lounge Messeplatz 1, 1020 Wien VIENNAFAIR Panel Program 2009, a four day program of panel debates and discussions with international key players from the international art world is presented by departure wirtschaft kunst und kultur gmbh.
	Thursday, May 7th
2.00 pm – 3.30 pm	Title: Fractured Narratives This panel focuses on non-lineal, fractured story-telling in art. Artists use narrative structures, without, however, telling the whole story. They aim at what is not representable, they state the absence of action or expose missing quintessence. The non-lineal postmodern story-telling methodology has been described as a ‘gigantic project of liberation’ (Georg Seeßlen). Chronologically and (psycho)logically comprehensible plots have become redundant. Everything can be mixed, combined and transformed. with Gianni Jetzer (Director, Swiss Institute Contemporary Art, New York) Roberto Ohrt (Author, Hamburg) Prof. Dr. Jörg Huber (Director Institute for Theory, ZHdK (University of Arts Zurich, Zurich) Dora Hegyi (Project manager, transit.hu , Budapest) Moderator: Diana Baldon (curator, London and Vienna)
4.00 pm – 5.30 pm	Title: Correspondences - a conversation between Matthew Higgs, Anselm Franke, and Lars Bang Larsen Matthew Higgs' curatorial project 'Correspondences' for 'curated by-vienna09' consists of five discrete two-person exhibitions that each takes the form of a cross-generational ‘conversation’ between both artists and artworks. Distinguished by age, experience, and intentions the artists and works in Higgs' exhibition have evolved independently in highly specific contexts. Each exhibition – each pairing or juxtaposition - privileges points of departure as much as shared concerns.  For this conversation critics and curators Matthew Higgs, Anslem Franke and Lars Bang Larsen will consider some of the broader issues at play in relation to recent curatorial approaches to cross-generational exhibition making. Considering important historical departure points such as Catherine David’s influential Documenta X in 1997, which introduced a series of idiosyncratic historical artistic positions through that David termed ‘retro-perspectives,' the discussion will hopefully explore how both artists and curators have accelerated and amplified this dialogue, seeking to establish and explore a more complex lineage (and progeny) for current artistic production. with Matthew Higgs (Director, White Columns, New York Anselm Franke (Director Extra City: Center for Contemporary Art, Antwerpen), Moderator: Lars Bang Larsen, (Independent curator and art critic, Barcelona/Copenhagen).
	Friday, May 8th
2.00 pm – 3.30 pm	Title: Blurred Boundaries Between Museum Curating And Gallery Practice This panel discussion will focus on the possibility of a hybrid space to be explored between curatorial practice as it is manifested in museums, and the work that commercial art galleries perform in developing programs of contemporary art. With the participation of DAN CAMERON, moderator CAY SOPHIE RABINOWITZ, and gallery owner PETER NAGY among others, the panel is expected to dwell on the historical reasons that such boundaries have existed in the past, and to examine whether or not they are still as meaningful. Given the current world economic situation, not-for-profit organizations, such as museums, are driven to invent increasingly market-oriented strategies to attract audiences and funders, while galleries have become even more dedicated to promoting the cultural interests of their communities. In the city of Vienna, where the art gallery has long been seen as a champion of new ideas and information regarding contemporary art, it may even be argued that the groundwork for such a blurring of boundaries has already been in place for years, if not decades. with Dan Cameron (Founding Director, Prospect.1 New Orleans, New Orleans) Peter Nagy (Director, Gallery Nature Morte in New Delhi) Friedemann Malsch (Director Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz) Chus Martinez (Chief Curator, Museu d´Art Contemporani, Barcelona) Moderator: Cay Sophie Rabinowitz (European editor-at-large, Art In America, New York)
4.00 pm – 5.30 pm	Title: From Europe to Asia and back, again. with Jérôme Sans (Director, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Peking) Chantal Beret (Curator, Centre Pompidou, Paris) Joao Ribas (Senior curator, The Drawing Center, New York) Oliver Dorfer (Artist, Linz), Manray Hsu (Independent curator and art critic, Taipei, Berlin and Linz). Moderator: Jérome Sans
	Saturday, May 9th
12.00 om – 1.30 pm	Presentation of the Art Critic Award - winner text 2008 Awarded to: Sabeth Buchmann Title: Abstract Characters? Reference and Formalism in the Works of Florian Pumhösl Introduction: Lioba Reddeker (Basis Wien) Reading: Jaschka Lämmert (Schauspielhaus Graz) Art - Art Critics - Art Critics Award www.artcriticsaward.com www.basis-wien.at
2.00 pm – 3.30 pm	Title: All Art Isn’t Global Yet From a New York perspective, and within a market matrix, the world of contemporary art probably looks globalized: a parade of bright-and-shiny things — recent Chinese painting, for instance. Yet, much art since the 1960s has dealt with "the everyday" which isn't always bright and often runs counter to institutional, and market projections. After the art market hype, there are also indications of renewed interest in cultural diversity. The panel will deal with questions such as: Is there a new focus on cultural diversity and regional/local specificity in contemporary art and what would it mean for European regional art scenes? Why do Russian artists exhibit one style of art at home and another abroad? And why 'national representation' remains a principal exposition platform.  with Michael Kimmelman (chief art critic and European bureau "Abroad" columnist, the New York Times) Victor Misiano (curator and art critic, Moscow) Iwona Blazwick (Director Whitechapel Art Gallery, London) Moderator: Christoph Thun-Hohenstein (Director departure) and Simon Rees (Senior Curator CAC, Vilnius)
4.00 pm – 5.30 pm	Title: Potential: What´s Next For The Viennese Art Scene? The Viennese art scene is positioned at a crossroads: historically-and-geographically between the West and East of Europe (at a moment when the East is once again bearing the brunt of a global destabilization); and as a new generation of artists is emerging from under the cult Viennese art motifs of "the body" and "the gesture" — making critically taught and pared-back work. The panelists will discuss ways in which artists, curators, and gallerists can harness this moment for presentation internationally, and — for the future. with Adam Budak (Curator / Kunsthaus Graz) Diana Baldon (Independent Curator, London and Vienna) Ursula Maria Probst (Independent Curator and Critic, Vienna) Andreas Huber (Owner Gallery Andreas Huber, Vienna) Moderator: Simon Rees (Senior Curator CAC, Vilnius)
5.00 pm	KÖR Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Wien Guided Tour with Karl Bruckschwaiger Meeting Point: Messe VIP Counter, Foyer der Viennafair Duration: max. 1,5h Read more here.
	Sunday, May 10th
2.00 pm – 3.00 pm	Kontakt. The Art Collection of Erste Group. Presentation by Walter Seidl (Curator)

FURTHER SIDE EVENTS & POSSIBILITIES
Thu, 7 May	VIENNAFAIR COCO
19.00	COCO is pleased to present "Revolver" on Thursday, May 7th from 7 pm. COCO (Contemporary Concerns) is a heterogeneous forum for the production, presentation, discussion and communication of contemporary art. COCO provides artists and curators with an experimental space and the public with a multilayered field of experience. COCO runs a bar. COCO is a joint project from artist Christian Kobald and curator Severin Dünser. Thematic group shows are COCO's main format, enhanced by a parallel program called the »The Orchid Orchard« consisting of lectures, performances, discussions, screenings, music, artist's talks and readings.   The title of the exhibiton is derived from the word »revolve«: »to circle, to spin around«. The basic idea is to show the world(s) an artwork creates, includes or evokes. Artists: Nina Beier, Anne Collier, Ruth Ewan, Adriana Lara, Lorna Macintyre, Flora Neuwirth, Mai-Thu Perret, Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Anne Schneider, Betty Tompkins, Rita Vitorelli	COCO Bauernmarkt 9 (Passage) 1010 Wien www.co-co.at
Fri, 8 May	TWILIGHT ZONE
19.00	Opening „TWILIGHT ZONE - Art Hits Design“ Artists: Gilbert Bretterbauer, Matali Crasset, Hermann Czech, EOOS, ____fabrics interseason, Werner Feiersinger, Heinz Frank, Konstantin Grcic, Donald Judd, Luisa Kasalicky, Hans Kupelwieser, Lazar Lyutakov, Miriam Laussegger, Manuela Mark, Claudia Märzendorfer, Bjarne Melgaard, Philipp Messner, David Moises, Flora Neuwirth, Oswald Oberhuber, Dennis Oppenheim, Walter Pichler, POLKA, PRINZGAU/podgorschek, Joe Scanlan, Zbyn?k Sekal, Barbara Visser, Lawrence Weiner, Heimo Zobernig Curators: Edek Bartz and Krüger & Pardeller Read more here.	KUNSTRAUM NIEDEROESTERREICH Herrengasse 13 1010 Vienna www.kunstraum.net
Sat, 9 May	VIENNAFAIR A LIGHT & SOUND MACHINE
10:30	Austrian Avant-Garde Films Videos of the collection of the Austrian Filmmuseum at the ‘Invisible Cinema’ Artists: Martin Arnold, Gustav Deutsch, Karo Goldt, Elke Groen, Friedl Kubelka-Bondy, Norbert Pfaffenbichler, Peter Tscherkassky We kindly ask for your early reservation to viennafair.events@messe.at	Austrian Filmmuseum Albertinastraße 1 1010 Vienna (in the building of the Albertina) www.filmmuseum.at
Sat, 9 May	VIENNAFAIR Parabol #4
19.30	Parabol #4 "The Value Issue" curated by Elsy Lahner (Vienna) and Jasper Sharp (London) Release Party with a performance by Pablo Helguera www.parabol.org Parabol AM is a project by section.a, section.d and Chris Goennawein.	Studio Lisa Ruyter Brucknerstraße 6 (basement) 1040 Wien
daily	VIENNAFAIR GUIDED TOURS
16:00	VIENNAFAIR, Messeplatz 1, 1020 Wien U2-Station: Messe - Prater meetingpoint: Info Counter, Foyer A, Messe Wien costs: per person € 5.00 , Minimum 8 participants reservation required viennafair@messe.at
daily	3sat Programme
	3sat Programme Read more here
Sun, 10 May	MOTHERS’ DAY @ VIENNAFAIR
starting 11:00	This year in cooperation with 88.6, Die Presse and Gerstner, we will be offering a special MOTHERS’ DAY PACKAGE. Read more here	VIENNAFAIR, Messeplatz 1, 1020 Wien U2-Station: Messe – Prater

Programme subject to change.