Still on view in Venice: MENTAL LOAD
Updated: 16 minutes ago
EXHIBITION REMINDER
MENTAL LOAD & INVISIBLE LABOUR
On Care, Structures, and the Politics of the Unseen
Venice – until 22nd of November 2026
ON DISPLAY:
MENTAL LOAD AND INVISIBLE LABOUR
ECC VENICE BIENNIAL 2026, ITALY
Location: Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy as part of the Venice Biennial 2026
Date: 9.5.2026 - 22.11.2026, 10am - 6pm, Cannaregio, Strada Nova 3659, Venezia
The exhibition at Palazzo Mora continues until 22 November 2026, accompanied by artistic encounters that invite us to rethink care, responsibility and the often-unseen work of everyday life.
Still on View in Venice – Until 22 November 2026
What does it mean to make invisible work visible? And how can art draw attention to the countless acts of planning, organising and caring that shape our daily lives, yet so often go unnoticed?
Mental Load and Invisible Labour continues to explore these questions at the European Cultural Centre (ECC), Palazzo Mora in Venice, as part of Personal Structures – Confluences during the Venice Biennale 2026.
On view until 22 November 2026, the exhibition brings together artistic perspectives on the hidden structures of care, responsibility and everyday organisation – forms of labour that remain largely unrecognised, despite being essential to our personal and collective lives.
Through performance, video, painting, sculpture and installation, the participating artists approach invisible labour from different angles. Everyday objects and materials traditionally associated with domestic work are recontextualised, familiar gestures become artistic expressions, and established roles, expectations and power structures are critically examined.
From the transformation of household materials to feminist reinterpretations of historical and religious imagery, the artworks invite us to reconsider what society values, recognises and too often takes for granted.
The project emerged from an international open call initiated through the Center for Didactics of Art & Interdisciplinary Education at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, in cooperation with Daniela Auerbach (Auerbach Art Management / Galerie Am Fluss) and Künstlerhaus Vienna.
Following its presentations in Bad Ischl and Vienna, it is wonderful to see these artistic conversations still continuing in Venice, reaching new audiences and opening further opportunities for exchange.
For anyone visiting Venice in the coming weeks, there is still time to experience the exhibition in person before it closes on 22 November 2026.
From Reflection to Participation – Two recent Workshops at Palazzo Mora
On 18 October 2026, the exhibition's central themes were explored through two participatory workshops at Palazzo Mora, held as part of the European Cultural Centre's Personal Structures – Confluences programme.
Organised by the Center for Didactics of Art & Interdisciplinary Education at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the workshops invited visitors to engage with questions of care, attention and invisible labour through hands-on artistic processes.
Care Matters: A4 as a Space for Care – Lena Fürjesi
How can something as simple as a sheet of paper become a space for care?
In Care Matters: A4 as a Space for Care, Lena Fürjesi invited participants to explore the concept of care through an accessible, tactile creative process.
Working with newspapers, paper and glue, participants assembled, layered and transformed familiar materials into individual compositions. The acts of folding, connecting and rearranging paper offered an opportunity to reflect on care, attention and the relationships between materials and people.
While You Were Doing Nothing – Niclas Schöler
What happens when an everyday domestic object becomes a canvas for artistic expression?
In While You Were Doing Nothing, Niclas Schöler invited participants to work with kitchen towels, colourful embroidery threads and textile materials, drawing attention to the often-invisible labour associated with domestic routines.
Through stitching, embellishing and transforming ordinary household textiles, participants engaged in a creative process that highlighted the time, patience and attention involved in manual work.
The familiar kitchen towel – an object closely connected to cleaning, cooking and care – became a surface for artistic experimentation and personal expression.
By shifting the context of these everyday materials, the workshop encouraged reflection on the value of activities that are frequently overlooked or taken for granted.
Both workshops offered a valuable opportunity to experience the exhibition's themes beyond the artworks themselves. Through simple materials and shared creative processes, questions of care, responsibility and invisible labour became tangible, opening space for conversation and new perspectives.
We are delighted to share a few impressions from these creative encounters and warmly invite everyone who has not yet had the chance to visit Mental Load and Invisible Labour in Venice.
Exhibition Information
Mental Load and Invisible Labour
Personal Structures – Confluences
European Cultural Centre (ECC) – Palazzo MoraStrada Nova 3659, Cannaregio, Venice, Italy
On view until 22 November 2026
A Jury of Perspectives
The works were selected by a jury bringing together expertise from curatorial practice, artistic production, and theory: Günther Oberhollenzer, Tanja Prušnik, Daniela Auerbach, Jakob Reitinger (Tourismus Regensburg) , Anita Kern, Christina Carli, and myself.
Their perspectives shaped a selection that reflects both the urgency and the complexity of the theme - deeply grateful to be part of this astonishing team.
The Artists
At the centre of Mental Load and Invisible Labour are the participating artists, whose works articulate, question, and transform the conditions of invisible labour.
Participating artists:
@die4grazien feat. @christianespatt
Amanda Bravo
Robert Cambrinus
David Carol Fedders
Edo Amelie Katavic
Sarah Kretschmer
Lena Mayringer
Susanne Meerwald-Stadler
Veronika Merklein
Wolfgang Miksits
Paula Peters
Lena Reutenauer
Jonas Rottmann
Alexandra Rusz
karo_sams
Gabriele Schuller @kunstnomadin
Christiane Spatt
Astrid Starrermayr @artby_as
Gertraude Stüger
Golnaz Walamotamed
Their contributions form a polyphonic field—one that resists simplification and insists on multiplicity.
Acknowledgements
Mental Load and Invisible Labour has been made possible through the collaboration, dedication and support of numerous individuals and institutions across different disciplines and locations.
My Special thanks go to Daniela Auerbach (Galerie am Fluss), Anita Kern (curatorial and graphic work as well as installation in Venice), Christina Carli (funding and organisation), Michaela Schober (editing), as well as Orna Baumgartner, Ebba Fransén Waldhör and Isabel Kranz for their valuable support.
Also a heratfelt Thank you to Jakob Reitinger from Tourismus Regensburg for supporting us.
I would also like to thank Tanja Prušnik (President, Künstlerhaus Wien) and Günther Oberhollenzer (Curator, Künstlerhaus Wien) for their contributions.
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to:
BMEIA - especially the Austrian Cultural Forum Milano
The City of Bad Ischl, particularly Mayor Ines Schiller, and our local partners in the Salzkammergut region & Salinen Austria
The European Cultural Centre (ECC), especially Micaela Skerl, Lucia Pedrana and the entire team
The University of Applied Arts Vienna, particularly Rector Ulrike Kuch and Vice-Rector Maria Zettler
The Angewandte Festival team, especially Lena Kohlmayr
and the Center for Didactics of Art & Interdisciplinary Education
We also gratefully acknowledge below the support of our sponsors and funding partners:
Hubert Achleitner (Hubert von Goisern)
Jakob Reitinger (Regensburg Tourism)
The Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs
Forum Austriaco di Cultura Milano
Kultur Oberösterreich
Regensburg Tourismus GmbH
Above all, heartfelt thanks to all participating artists, collaborators and contributors, both named and unnamed, whose creativity, commitment and engagement have brought this project to life and helped make invisible labour visible.
Toward Visibility
Mental Load and Invisible Labour explores how artistic practice can bring overlooked social realities into focus, transforming complex questions of care, responsibility and everyday labour into visual and tangible experiences.
Rather than offering definitive answers, the exhibition creates space for reflection and dialogue. It draws attention to the tensions between visibility and invisibility, individual responsibility and societal structures, care and exhaustion.
Ultimately, it invites us not only to look more closely at the work that often goes unnoticed, but also to reconsider how labour, responsibility and care are valued and shared in our society.
Curated by Ruth Mateus-Berr, Anita Kern and Daniela Auerbach.
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