Since 1998, the museum in progress in cooperation with the Vienna State Opera and the Bundestheater-Holding has commissioned international contemporary artists to create a temporary Safety Curtain at the opera. Each year, a distinguished panel including Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Daniel Birnbaum and Akiko Miyake select an artist whose work is then exhibited at the State Opera House during the opera season. This year, Cerith Wyn Evans has been selected to create the curtain for the 2011 - 2012 opera season. Previous artists commissioned include Cy Twombly, Richard Hamilton and Rikrit Tiravanjia.

The artwork is produced and installed using an innovative process for the curtain’s large format (176 m²). The images are printed on plastic-nets using the CALSI-System (Computer Aided Large Scale Imagery) and then fixed with magnets on the safety curtains (an officially preserved monument in Vienna).

"Safety Curtain" is a project of museum in progress in cooperation with the Vienna State Opera and the Bundestheater-Holding, made possible since 2008 by Die Presse.

Cerith Wyn Evans safety curtain commission, Vienna State Opera. Image courtesy the museum in progress.