The exhibition series "Safety Curtain" is a project of museum in progress in cooperation with the Vienna State Opera and the Bundestheater-Holding.

"Safety Curtain" is an exhibition series conceived by museum in progress in cooperation with the Vienna State Opera, which transforms the safety curtain into a temporary exhibition space for contemporary art. For the twentieth "Safety Curtain", the jury (Daniel Birnbaum and Hans-Ulrich Obrist) selected the internationally renowned artist John Baldessari.

His large-format picture was presented at a press conference in the Wiener Staatsoper on Wednesday, 18 October 2017. To mark the twentieth anniversary of the project, an exhibition will also be inaugurated in the Marble Hall, where for the first time all previous works will be on display at the same time in one room, together with additional works by the participating artists. An extensive catalogue published by Verlag für moderne Kunst documents the entire project and includes new texts by Bice Curiger and Chris Dercon, among others.

In 2002/2003 museum in progress presented a "Safety Curtain" by the artist duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset at the Komische Oper Berlin. Curator: Ina Blom.

The large-format pictures (Vienna: 176 square metres, Berlin: 90 square metres) are produced and installed using an innovative process: The images are printed on plastic-nets and they are fixed with magnets on the safety curtain.