Contracts awarded for exhibition construction and media technology

The National Fund is pleased to announce that, following the completion of two tender procedures for construction and media technology for the new Austrian exhibition at Auschwitz, the best bidders in each procedure have been awarded a contract.

The contract for the interior design and furnishings of the Austrian exhibition in Block A-17 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum was awarded to the Vienna-based company Winter Artservice GmbH in mid-October 2020.

On 22 October 2020, the contract for the provision of media technology was awarded to MVD-Austria, Verein zur Förderung von Kunst, Architektur, Musik und Film (“Association for the Promotion of Art, Architecture, Music and Film”), also based in Vienna, under the direction of the architect Michael Rieper.

“I am very pleased that we will now be able to realize the final stage,” says Claire Fritsch, head of the Coordination Office at the National Fund. “Both companies can draw on extensive experience and are highly motivated”.

Construction of the exhibition structures is scheduled to begin in November. Further work on the exhibition facilities – filling the showcases with exhibits, loading the software, a trial run etc. – is scheduled for spring 2021. If no major plan changes in plans prove necessary – particularly in the event of restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic – the new exhibition will be ready by May 2021.

“However, this is not solely in the hands of the National Fund. As with all national exhibitions in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the planning, implementation and approval of the work must be coordinated with the host, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum,” explains Secretary General Hannah Lessing. “The ceremonial opening of the Austrian exhibition will also be planned in cooperation with the museum”. The date is still to be determined.