Vienna museum invites visitors to rearrange furniture

Vienna’s mumok museum is asking visitors to handle and rearrange furniture in an interactive exhibition, reversing the usual museum rule of “Do not touch”. The exhibition, “Push and Pull: A Furniture Comedy”, is based on an idea by action artist Allan Kaprow, ORF reports.

Visitors can move colourful upholstered and plastic furniture as part of the work. Kaprow, who died in 2006, was known for art actions involving audiences. Curator Vanessa Joan Müller said his work challenged traditional art forms such as painting and sculpture. Mumok director Fatima Hellberg said visitors who push and pull the objects help shape the work.

The space for rearranging the furniture is limited, and Müller expects some visitors to go beyond the rules. She described how visitors behave as an ongoing negotiation during the exhibition. Kaprow’s work was first staged in New York in 1963, and his instructions require each new performance to be different.

The exhibition also brings together works from the 1960s to the present that question the nature of art. Kaprow wanted people to notice things outside museums that might also be art, Müller said. The artist was critical of museums and sought to encourage people to value art for reasons other than its price.

Other works invite visitors to participate. Christian Philipp Müller’s 1994 piece “Rollenspiel” features printed fishing hats on a shelf, including hats labelled “artist”, “dealer” and “collector”. In Park McArthur’s “Contact E”, from the previous year, everyday pharmacy products sit on a pedestal, prompting visitors to consider whether they are allowed to take them, curator Matthias Michalka said.

“Push and Pull: A Furniture Comedy” runs from November 14, 2026, to April 4, 2027. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday and on public holidays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.