Vienna bids farewell to VALIE EXPORT with tribute by Elfriede Jelinek at the Zentralfriedhof

Farewell at the Zentralfriedhof

At the center of the ceremony was the speech by City Councillor for Culture Veronica Kaup-Hasler, who, together with a text specially composed by Nobel laureate in literature Elfriede Jelinek, recalled the deceased. In Jelinek's words, one icon reached out a rhetorical hand to another in farewell: "Valie hat sich genommen, was sie gebraucht hat, und letztlich haben wir dann sie gebraucht." Kaup-Hasler honored the deceased, who died at 85, as a courageous and uncompromising pioneer who was always willing to challenge social conventions.

In her own address, Kaup-Hasler described the artist as "eine provokante, kluge und unverwechselbare Künstlerin – eine Stimme, die unbequem war und genau deshalb so notwendig". She thereby underscored the standard that VALIE EXPORT had set for her audience and the art world over decades. Before Jelinek's tribute, the councillor also quoted a sentence by Alexander Kluge on the occasion of Heiner Müller's funeral: "Es ist ein Irrtum, dass die Toten tot sind."

Jelinek's Words to the Deceased

The memorial ceremony at the Zentralfriedhof thus followed a series of other prominent honors that Vienna had arranged for VALIE EXPORT in recent weeks. The artist received an honorary grave from the City of Vienna, intended to permanently anchor her work in the city's collective memory. Representatives from the arts, culture, and politics attended the ceremony to bid farewell together.

Jelinek's text combined biographical references with an artistic reflection on the significance of VALIE EXPORT's work. The tribute highlighted how greatly the artist had changed the view of the female body, of public life, and of political symbolism. For many in attendance, the text was therefore more than an obituary: it was an assessment of where contemporary art stands.

Tribute by the City Councillor

Kaup-Hasler emphasized in her speech the lasting influence of the artist on coming generations. "Ihr Werk hat uns stets schärfer sehen lassen und eröffnet weiterhin Räume für die so wichtigen Debatten und Auseinandersetzungen in unserer Gesellschaft", the councillor said, according to APA. With this formulation, she also pointed to the programmatic dimension of EXPORT's work, which extends beyond the moment of mourning.

Lasting Legacy in Vienna

The mourners commemorated the artist with a deliberately simple ceremony in which spoken contributions stood at the center. Images and memories of VALIE EXPORT's performances and films accompanied the service. At the end came a collective farewell to an artist whose work will continue to have an impact in Vienna and internationally. The city announced that it would continue to cultivate the artistic legacy in exhibitions and programs.

With the farewell at the Zentralfriedhof, the City of Vienna closes an initial circle of mourning. Cultural institutions and companions of the artist had already paid tribute to her beforehand. The City of Vienna plans to keep VALIE EXPORT's work visible in future exhibitions and programs. This is intended to preserve the legacy of an artist who was always uncomfortable and precisely for that reason indispensable.