»Seasons in the Sun« transforms 17(Joy) into a tender experiment in slowness, rituals of farewell, and curatorial friendship. Seventeen curators and artists have been invited to commission a postcard from an artist with whom they share a reciprocal and formative relationship—emerging through collaboration, dialogue, or shared histories. These postcards are printed, mailed, and distributed from a makeshift post office inside 17(Joy), turning the space into a hub for quiet exchanges and collective memory.

Opening: 12 September, 18:00

At once a gathering and a celebration of invisible networks, the project reclaims the humble postcard as a vehicle for reflection and connection—an alternative to accelerated forms of communication. Neural, relational, and enduring, »Seasons in the Sun« offers a love letter and a moment of pause: to mark what has already been shared, and to imagine what kinds of togetherness might continue to grow across time and distance.

17(Joy) at Lombardi—Kargl, Schleifmühlgasse 17, 1040 Vienna

Invited by Jen Kratochvil, curated by Laura Amann Marín with Aleksei Borisionok, Anne Faucheret, Aziza Harmel, BLOCKFREI Collective, Ekaterina Degot, Fanny Hauser, Francesca Gavin, KUNSTVEREIN GARTENHAUS, Liam Gillick, Miguel López, Mirela Baciak, Phila Bergmann & Thea Reifler, Ramesch Daha, Tjaša Pogačar, and WHW.

Presenting works by Anca Munteanu Rimnic, Chantal Kaufmann, Colm Keady Tabbal, Eliana Otta, Ezra Šimek, Hans-Jörg Mayer, Jakub Jansa, julie béna, Miriam Stoney, Seana Gavin, Sergey Bratkov, Shu Lea Cheang, Vlatka Horvat, Yesmine Ben Khelil, Zina Isupova (through Kriegsbilder), and Željka Aleksić, with a spatial intervention by Abdul Sharif Oluwafemi Baruwa and visual style by Martins Kohout.

Since its inception, 17(Joy) has explored how joy can operate as both method and resistance—an insistence on community, comradeship, and artistic solidarity in the face of increasing political encroachment on cultural institutions and public funding. With »Seasons in the Sun,« this ethos is extended: the project insists that even the smallest gestures of exchange and recognition—like a postcard—can form part of a broader counter-narrative, sustaining practices of collectivity, solidarity, and critical thought.

A year-long curatorial project, 17(Joy), is taking place at Lombardi—Kargl at Schleifmühlgasse 17 in Vienna. Initiated and curated by Jen Kratochvil, the project unfolds over five chapters, each developed by an invited curator: Adelina Luft, Stella Rollig, Laura Amann, Ji-Yoon Han, and Sebastian Cichocki.

Header image: Abdul Sharif Oluwafemi Baruwa, Donau, 2025