The musa Museum Start Gallery Artothek showcases contemporary Austrian art from 1945 to the present, holding the collection of the City of Vienna's Cultural Department. It features a wide range of disciplines and hosts changing exhibitions alongside a starter gallery for emerging artists.
The musa, as the Museum Start Gallery Artothek, serves as a significant repository for the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna, housing an extensive collection of contemporary Austrian art dating back to 1945. With approximately 50,000 objects by around 5,000 artists, it provides a comprehensive overview of Viennese art through its various disciplines, including painting, graphics, sculpture, photography, film, video, and installation art. Acquisitions are guided by a principle of stylistic diversity and high quality, ensuring representation of both key works by established artists and significant contributions from lesser-known or emerging figures.
The museum's exhibition program ranges from retrospectives of acclaimed artists to thematic presentations exploring specific decades in Viennese art history. These changing exhibitions are displayed across a 600 m² exhibition area. Additionally, the musa features an integrated starter gallery dedicated to providing a platform for young artists to enter the art market and a unique Artothek service, allowing Vienna residents to borrow artworks for their homes. The building itself, an early reinforced concrete structure from 1916, was adapted for exhibition purposes by Kiskan Kaufmann Architekten.