imumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig WienNeubau
Verena Paravel: Cosmofonia
An immersive film and sound project that tunes into the planet's inaudible voices, from infrasound and seismic resonance to animal and plant communication.
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Preview: written before the show opened
Somewhere in Cosmofonia, ants are signalling to each other, and you get to hear it. Verena Paravel records sounds like that, along with seismic noise and infrasonic vibrations, using scientific microphones and cameras she keeps in the picture rather than hiding. mumok says most visitors will be hearing these sounds for the first time.
This is the first time the whole project has been shown, and Paravel's first solo museum show. It runs as several film chapters in separate environments on Level -4. One, which premiered at the Okayama Art Summit in 2025, follows insects, gastropods and plants in Japan. Another is set in the Camargue in southern France, among wetlands and land hit by wildfires. It is the only room in the MuseumsQuartier where you're expected to listen to ants.
Paravel co-made Leviathan, the trawler film in mumok's Terminal Piece, which runs until 7 February, so for two months one ticket covers both. That's €18 (€15 reduced, under-19s free), Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00.
Editor's pick
Infrasound, seismic hum, insects and snails in Japan, the wetlands and fire-scarred ground of the Camargue: Verena Paravel's film chapters try to record what the planet says below human hearing. A first solo museum show from the co-director of Leviathan.
Look for
The Japan chapter
Look for insects, gastropods and plants filmed and recorded with scientific video and audio gear, the chapter that premiered at the Okayama Art Summit in 2025.
The Camargue chapter
Wetlands in southern France and stretches of land affected by wildfires, newly produced with mumok.
Good for
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
- Rainy Days
With kids
Under-19s get in free.
Also at mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
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Image credits
9
- Verena Paravel: CosmofoniaCourtesy the artist
- Herbert Boeckl – Hans Josephsohn: Figural ArchetypesHerbert Boeckl Nachlass, Vienna; Josephsohn Estate / Kesselhaus Josephsohn, St. Gallen
- Glaciers out of balanceJürgen Merz / NHM Wien
- Caution, high voltage! Electrical accidents – a class of their ownNHM Wien
- mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig WienAndrzej Otrębski / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Architekturzentrum Wien (Az W)Spock1801 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kunsthalle WienStephan Wyckoff / PresseKunsthalleWien, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leopold MuseumPeter Gugerell / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
- Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien)Stb1er (Dario Premm), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0