The visual artist and art educator AO. Univ.-Prof. Mmag. Bernhard Gwiggner was awarded the Ars Docendi State Prize 2025 for excellent teaching in the research-related or artistic teaching category yesterday. The interdisciplinary cooperation project “Tradition2Go: between culture and madness”, which was realized in the study year of the sculpture of the University of Mozarteum (visual education) with the Salzburg Museum in cooperation between the University of MozarteM in the academy year 2023/24. The occasion was the anniversary exhibition “Masks, traditional costumes, cult objects – 100 years of collecting folklore” in the Salzburg Montherschlössl Hellbrunn.
The focus was on a comprehensive artistic and theoretical examination of students with folklore objects and their importance for the present, identity and social discourses. In addition to their own artistic interventions in Hellbrunner Park, the students also developed a digital mediation format: the course was expanded via augmented reality and the audience invited to active interaction.
The project enabled teacher students to take a deep insight into the complex processes of a museum company- from curatorial decisions to approval procedures to PR and mediation strategies. This creates a unique learning room that combines artistic practice, scientific reflection and pedagogical relevance.
Bernhard Gwiggner emphasizes:“The students not only further developed their own artistic attitude, but also learned what it means to negotiate art in public space and bring them into social processes. These experiences are invaluable for later work as a teacher.”
The project was accompanied by a committed team of teachers from the sculpture class (Bernhard Gwiggner, Reinhard Gupfinger, Christel Kiesel, Anna Engl) and partners of the Salzburg Museum (Directorate: Martin Hochleitner, Head of Folklore Museum: Anna Engl).
The artistic work was shown in Hellbrunner Park from May 4 to June 23, 2024 and were enthusiastically received by numerous visitors. An accompanying booklet, a Documentation video And the interactive AR extension “Tradition2Go_Extended” ensure the sustainability of the project.
With the award, the Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research recognizes a teaching innovation that shows an example of how art, science and education can shape the future together. 177 submissions, over 400 teachers, 53 universities – the response to the State Prize for excellent teaching ‘Ars Docendi 2025’, which the Ministry of Science has been giving since 2013, was so great.
Brief biography Bernhard Gwiggner
Bernhard Gwiggner is a visual artist and lives in Salzburg. He studied art education in Salzburg and sculpture in Vienna. From 1994 he was an assistant for sculpture at the University of Mozarteum Salzburg; In 2017 to 2020 he held the founding professorship for artistic practice at the University of Mozarteum at the Innsbruck location; Since his habilitation in 2022, he has headed the sculpture at the University of Mozarteum in Salzburg.
As a visual artist, he deals multimedia (drawing, video, object, installation, art in public space) and partly with the involvement of participatory processes, among other things, with National Socialism.