iWeltmuseum WienInnere Stadt
Hidden Stories: Treasures from the Collections
Objects from the Weltmuseum's stores that have rarely, if ever, been on public display, with the stories of where they came from and what they meant.
More in Vienna
You can sit in a padded swivel chair facing a big mirror: curator Henrie Dennis wanted the hair room to feel like a barbershop. On the wall, a 1991 sign from a barber in Ghana offers the "Boeing 707 Cut", the "Invasion USA Cut" and the "Schwarsnegger Cut". It reached the museum via the Grazer Kunstverein, so Arnold's haircut made it back to Styria.
This is three small shows from the Weltmuseum's storerooms. Combs and hairpins in bone, horn, ivory, shell and wood from four continents. Nine stone sculptures, mostly acquired in the 19th century, whose labels will be corrected during the run as provenance research goes on; one label admits its figure may be a fake. And Pakistani paintings and prints, donated in 2018 and shown for the first time.
Come for the object stories, and use the prompts in each room to slow down. It's included in the €16 museum ticket, under-19s are free, and it's open until 9pm on Tuesdays.
Look for
The "Schwarsnegger Cut" sign
A hand-painted 1991 sign from T.D.K. Barbering Studio in Ghana, hung near the swivel chair and mirror of the show's barbershop corner.
The Japanese hairpin of 1889
Look closely at a small pin of bone worked with silk, gold thread and silver sheet, which came to Vienna through Heinrich von Siebold's collection.
The figure with a question mark
An ancient-looking female figure whose label reads "China, early 20th century?" and suggests it was made to mislead, possibly as a forgery; the APA report says it is the one object you may touch.
The Aztec rattlesnake
A coiled rattlesnake carved from volcanic stone in Mexico around 1500, about a third of a metre tall.
Quddus Mirza, Portrait of an Angel with Red Wings
A 1994 painting that first looks like a child's drawing, then turns out to be an abstracted take on political events in Pakistan.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- Going Solo
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want one big story: it's three separate small displays on combs, stone sculpture and Pakistani art.
With kids
Under-19s get in free with the regular museum ticket.
Also at Weltmuseum Wien
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iGlaciers out of balance
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iCaution, high voltage! Electrical accidents – a class of their own
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iGood Collecting – Bad Collecting. 150 Years of the Natural History Museum Vienna
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Nearby
Image credits
8
- Hidden Stories: Treasures from the CollectionsKHM-Museumsverband, Weltmuseum Wien
- Glaciers out of balanceJürgen Merz / NHM Wien
- Caution, high voltage! Electrical accidents – a class of their ownNHM Wien
- Good Collecting – Bad Collecting. 150 Years of the Natural History Museum ViennaNHM Wien
- Weltmuseum WienThomas Ledl / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- Kunsthistorisches Museum WienManfred Werner (Tsui), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Natural History Museum Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien)Stb1er (Dario Premm), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- State Hall of the Austrian National Library (Prunksaal)Mirej / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT