10 May 2023

The Technisches Museum Wien looks back to the past and into the future of women's work and will soon open the new 'Music Lounge' with insights into the work of electronic music pioneers

Currently, the Technisches Museum Wien is celebrating the history and benefits of education and the development of women's work since 1873 with the anniversary exhibition 'Women at Work - 150 Years of the First Women's Pavilion at the Vienna World's Fair'. The exhibition is accompanied by a program presenting new technologies applicable to various professions. At the techLAB, the focus is set on experimentation with modern devices and programs, so that participants can get a first taste of relevant skills for the future job market. With this initiative, the Technisches Museum Wien wants to break down stereotypical gender roles in the professional world and at the same time promote access to MINT subjects (mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology). In today's digital society, a basic understanding of modern tools is indispensable in a wide range of professions, from fashion, textile and furniture design, production to retail - think logistics and online shops, or in architecture and in legal or medical professions.

Images, from left: Exhibition view of 'Women At Work' at the Technisches Museum Wien, 3 May to 2 July 2023. At the Vienna World's Fair in 1873, the female working world was discussed for the first time. The exhibits from the Crown Lands ranged from handicrafts from schools to products from women's prisons to traditional costumes made at home. Among the objects on display are items that were probably exhibited in the Women's Pavilion in 1873 such as a christening dress made of wool and silk or a red cap with silver embroidery and fringes originating from the domestic industry of Dalmatia. Photo: © Technisches Museum Wien / Flieszer Martina.

Right: The postcard shows women sitting in the physics hall of the school building of the Wiener Frauen-Erwerb-Verein at Wiedner Gürtel 68 in Vienna, around 1915. Photo: © Technisches Museum Wien/Archiv. The exhibition in the Women's Pavilion was organized by the 'Central Commission', which was formed in 1872 and consisted of 20 men and 32 women. Many of the women involved were volunteers in the Wiener Frauen-Erwerb-Verein and pioneers for women's right to education and vocational training.

New technologies are also the theme of the new exhibition area 'Music Lounge', which will be officially opened on 31 May and can be visited from 1 June. The 'Music Lounge' is dedicated to the era of electronic music. The exhibition features original objects by well-known Austrian artists such as Parov Stelar, Joe Zawinul or Thomas Rabitsch, and invites visitors to participate in the production of music through interactive elements and a show stage. The exhibition highlights the technological milestones that were decisive for the development and distribution of electronic music and showcases the female avant-garde pioneers who have shaped electronic music. In the 'Music Lounge', visitors can learn more about female pioneers such as Johanna Magdalena Beyer (German-American, 1888 - 1944, first female composer of a work for electronic instruments), Daphne Oram (British composer and electronic musician, 1925 - 2003, influental in sounds for broadcasting and film), Laurie Spiegel and Wendy Carlos.