ZONE1 is viennacontemporary’s signature platform for emerging talent. Now in its tenth year, this acclaimed section presents solo exhibitions by ten outstanding artists under 40 with strong connections to Austria.

For this year’s ZONE1, Curator Aliaksei Barysionak brings together artistic practices that engage with themes of migration and displacement, affective experiences of artists, queerness, and critical feminist perspectives.

Featuring a range of media from painting to media installation, ZONE1 2025 highlights positions that are integral to Vienna’s contemporary art scene but often remain underrepresented within Austria’s institutional frameworks. The selected artists engage with formal and political gestures, worldbuilding, feminist figuration, and the examination of material and social realities.

ABOUT THE CURATOR

For the first time, the section will be curated by a member of the viennacontemporary team. Aliaksei Barysionak, curator, writer, and liaison for galleries from Central and Eastern Europe, brings deep expertise and a distinct curatorial vision. He recently co-curated the Matter of Art Biennale 2024 in Prague alongside Katalin Erdődi, a project widely recognized for its transnational scope and social relevance. Born in 1992 in Belarus, Aliaksei Barysionak is a curator and writer whose work explores the intersection of art, politics, and society. A former fellow at the Vera List Center for Art and Politics in New York (2022–24), he combines critical theory with curatorial practice in nuanced and politically engaged ways. Based in Vienna, he plays a key role in connecting artistic communities across Eastern and Western Europe. His writing has appeared in e-flux journal, springerin, and L’Internationale Online. Since 2020, he has been part of the viennacontemporary team, working closely with international galleries, particularly from Eastern Europe.

ZONE1 takes place with the kind support of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Art, Culture, Media, and Sports (BMWKMS)