Reading the Invisible
What we call “normal” is rarely a matter of coincidence. ON IDEOLOGY is an interactive exhibition at designforum Vienna, created by Communication Design students from the MultiMediaArt programme at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with designaustria.
The exhibition explores ideology not only as a political idea, but as something that quietly shapes our everyday lives. It appears in the images we trust, the objects we use, the systems we follow, the spaces we move through, the routines we repeat, and the habits we rarely question.
Rather than focusing only on the loud and obvious, ON IDEOLOGY turns towards the subtle structures that influence how we see, think, judge, and act. These structures are often hidden in plain sight — in design, language, media, technology, consumption, and social expectations.
Through experimental and interactive works, the exhibition invites visitors to pause, look closer, and read the invisible power structures embedded in everyday life. It creates moments of curiosity, irritation, and reflection, opening up new ways of seeing what usually remains unnoticed.
ON IDEOLOGY is not an exhibition with fixed answers. It is an invitation to observe, question, and rethink what we have learned to accept as “normal.”
This project was developed within the Communication Design – MultiMediaArt Master’s program at FH Salzburg under the supervision of Professor Viktoria Kirjuchina.
Special thanks to Rui da Quinta Fernandes.
Producers: Ekaterina Smirnova, Lendina Balaj, Tanja Gerusel
Visitors can expect an interactive, visual, and experimental exhibition experience that invites them to look closer at the structures shaping everyday life.
Each project approaches ideology from a different perspective — from power, identity, media, language, consumption, technology, social norms, and belief systems to the question of what we accept as normal without even noticing it. Through objects, images, spaces, digital systems, and participatory formats, the works make visible how ideology can appear in the small details of our daily routines, habits, and surroundings.
The exhibition creates moments of curiosity and irritation: situations that interrupt the familiar and open up new ways of seeing. Visitors are invited not only to observe, but also to engage, reflect, and question how invisible systems influence the way we think, behave, and relate to the world around us.
Rather than offering fixed answers, ON IDEOLOGY opens space for reflection, conversation, and personal interpretation. It encourages visitors to pause, question familiar patterns, and rethink what we have learned to accept as “normal.”
Public transport
The Designforum Wien is located in the MuseumsQuartier, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna. The closest station is Volkstheater, which can be reached by subway U3, tram 49, or bus 48A. From there, it is only a short walk to the MuseumsQuartier.
By car
If you arrive by car, you can use the MuseumsQuartier parking garage, located directly at the MQ main entrance.
