In March, 2017, Cafe Hansi, a work by artist Hans Schabus, will open in front of mumok cinema. It was purchased with funds from the mumok Board. This bar operates independently of the rest of the museum and even has its own small kitchen and a WC. The interior design pays great attention to detail. Schabus even designed the beakers himself.

The external walls of this small space contrast starkly with the highly conceptual interior design. The outer walls are made of simple wooden boards screwed together, looking rather careless, and the drainage pipes for the toilet are clearly visible, leading to mumok’s own drainage system. Schabus uses the outer walls for a pleasantly chaotic presentation of his own collection of objects and trinkets, which he has put together over the last fifteen years. These include a poster for a concert by Hansi Hinterseer to stuffed canaries to rolls of Hansa medicinal plaster. All of them somehow contain the artist’s first name.

With Cafe Hansi, Schabus enacts the problematic distinction between interior and exterior, between the staged persona of the artist and the authentic individual. This artwork is functional and raw on the outside, but when you go inside you are greeted by a dazzling sight.