Since death has always been a universal topic in the fine arts, this exhibition presents artwork and objects from the Vienna Funeral Museum, pieces from various collections and contemporary works that were specially produced for the exhibition.

The extensive displays link the history of burial in Vienna with both the Viennese and international everyday culture as well as with the historical and present artistic approach to dying, death, mourning and remembrance.

In this exhibition, objects and relics of everyday culture, such as pompous coaches, luxurious sarcophaguses, designer urns as well as a presentation of the “diamond burial” are directly linked with artwork from all epochs in their contemplation of death in the past, present and future – from the Josephinist foldaway coffin to the funeral of the pop star Falco, from painting to sculpting, from video installations to music clips.

Artworks by: Alfred Kubin, Erwin Wurm, Robert Mapplethorpe, Lucinda Devlin, Peter Hendricks, Anna Konik, HR Giger, Josef Hoffmann, Galli Bibiena, Jonathan Meese, Herwig Zens, Alfred Hrdlicka, Adolf Frohner, Siegfried Anzinger, Otto Dix, Douglas Gordon, Isabella Schmidlehner, Ilse Haider, Deutschbauer & Spring, Paul Renner, Andy Warhol et al.