New association in Graz

They want to make the art industry more sustainable

Claudia and Max Gansberger founded the circulART association

(Bild: Claudia Gansberger)

The cultural sector still has a lot of room for improvement when it comes to sustainability - many stage sets, props and exhibition materials end up in the trash after a single use. A pair of artists from Graz have now founded the circulART association, which aims to increase recycling.

It all started a good year ago with polystyrene columns that were part of an exhibition in front of the Halle für Kunst Steiermark in Graz: "I worked there as technical director and thought it was a shame that the columns would simply end up in the garbage after the exhibition was dismantled," says Max Gansberger. When he and his wife heard that a friend's daughter's school class was having a graduation ball with an antiquity theme, they gave them the columns: "The columns were so well received at the venue that they were passed on again and are still in use there."

New materials hall in the Rösselmühle
This unexpected success spurred on the founding of the circulART association, which aims to ensure that materials such as exhibition walls, pedestals and other props are not thrown away, but collected and recycled: "In other countries, there have been offers like this for a long time, but not much has been done in Austria yet," says Claudia Gansberger. As a first step, a hall has now been rented on the Rösselmühle site, where the materials that are donated are sorted, stored and prepared for resale or rental at a reasonable price.

View of the materials hall at the Rösselmühle site in Graz

(Bild: Claudia Gansberger)

And the cultural scene is very interested: there is already a cooperation with the Universalmuseum Joanneum, the GrazMuseum, the Kunstverein and the Halle für Kunst, and Bühnen Graz has also expressed interest. "We go there, collect recyclable materials and look for new users," explains Gansberger. Most recently, around 600 square meters of rubber granulate mats, which the Vienna Secession will soon be taking out of service, were sold to the Kräftner art club in Graz.

Crowdfunding campaign launched
"The feedback from the art scene has been extremely positive," says the duo happily. Only the funding bodies have not yet given much positive feedback: "Only art projects are funded from the state's cultural budget, which is why we have been turned down for the time being." There have at least been two small grants from the city of Graz.

Until then, they are now trying to raise funds for the renovation of the Materialhalle with a crowdfunding campaign: "We want to finally open officially in June and make our hall accessible to everyone during fixed opening hours," the duo hopes for support.