RED FLAGS / Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria
24.9. - 18.10. 2026
Gries Platz 34, Graz
Curated by Ekaterina Degot, David Riff, Line Spellenberg and Pieternel Vermoortel, and supported by junior curators Beatrice Forchini and Lukas Michelitsch, with curatorial advice from Gábor Thury.
Artists: Rawan Almukhtar, Josefin Arnell, Alex Baczyński-Jenkins, Vanessa Baird, Lennart Boyd Schürmann, Carmen Chraim, Gabriele Edlbauer and Julia S. Goodman, Daniel Dominguez Teruel, Stina Fors, Francesca Grilli, Leila Hekmat, Max Höfler and Andreas Unterweger, Krõõt Juurak, Nikolay Karabinovych, Alexa Karolinski and Ingo Niermann, Alina Kleytman, Xenia Koghilaki, Lina Majdalanie & Rabih Mroué, Lukas Michelitsch, Csaba Molnár / Nicole Clore, Hendrik Quast, Heather Phillipson, Die Rabtaldirndln, Azade Shahmiri, Hanik Soleimani, Naya de Souza, Franz von Strolchen, Jaro Varga, and Julian Warner.
For its exhibition, steirischer herbst occupies a building at Griesplatz 34 dating to the 17th century, which last housed a folkloristic schnitzel restaurant. The Gries district has recently become a political battleground. Due to its high proportion of foreign residents, rightists have claimed that a “population replacement” is taking place here and, in the run-up to this year’s municipal elections, have weaponized the streetscape—kebab shops and barbershops in the immediate vicinity—to stoke fears of “infiltration.”
Within this targeted community and at this epicenter of local and European anxieties, the exhibition unfolds as a microcosm of domestic life in a political danger zone. Inside the former tavern, the artists of Red Flags construct a labyrinth of fractured narratives. Each room tells a different story, populated by a cast of contemporary archetypes and marginalized figures: detectives, tradwives, cult members, cam girls, and vampires. In a time when the Right aggressively instrumentalizes the public sphere, the exhibition retreats into the domestic interior—only to reveal that there is no safe haven.
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