Natalia del Mar Kašik, Aufsicht, 2024
In piercing through, a current group exhibition at DAS WEISSE HAUS developed within the Curators’ Agenda: VIENNA 2025, the curators Trinity Njume-Ebong, Ahmad Darkhabani and João Dias turn their attention to a concept that exerts persistent pressure on artistic lives and institutions alike—success. Working with eight emerging artists selected through an open call at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, the curatorial trio examines how success is produced, performed, and contested—across institutions, markets, diasporic trajectories and personal biographies—amid shrinking cultural budgets and a rightward political shift that increasingly pressures the art field. Their exhibition moves between conceptual, performative and materially experimental approaches, addressing how value and recognition circulate today. In conversation with Anna-Lena Werner, the curators discuss their criteria, collective process, and how navigating a residency shaped their thinking about the urgencies of this moment.