Under the overall artistic direction of Christof Cremer, design concepts are developed for museums and exhibitions, as well as for installations within exhibitions. Here, museums are theatrical spaces in the best sense of the word. In both theater and museums, history and stories are told; they are places of presentation and representation. The task of a set designer—just like that of an interior designer—is to translate content into form and thereby create narrative spaces. On stage, singers, actors, or dancers take center stage; in a museum, it is the exhibits. Performers and objects want—and need—to be shown in the best possible light. The spaces are there to give them the desired aura or to support them in such a way that they can unfold their own aura; so that the interplay between the objects and the viewers can begin, the objects can tell their stories, and visitors leave the museum enriched.
At Atelier Cremer, we develop holistic concepts for temporary and permanent exhibitions, spatial installations, visitor centers, and wayfinding and orientation systems. Our focus is on the dramaturgical exploration of exhibition content and brand worlds. Our concepts encompass the design of the entire presentation, including posters, promotional materials, and merchandising products.
“Museum—A Theatrical Space”
Café Landtmann at Night
's "Café Landtmann at Night"
Client:
Querfeld’s Wiener Kaffeehaus GmbH
Berndt Querfeld
Opening: April 10, 2026
Artistic Director: Christof Cremer
Illustrations: Atelier Christof Cremer / Jovan Sertic
Art Direction & Motion Graphics: ZONE Media GmbH
Media Technology: 7reasons GmbH
Project Management/Coordination: Derenko GmbH
Photos: Moritz Scheer
Video: Café Landtmann's transformation into an atmospheric evening venue
https://youtu.be/UuMkj_AKxIA
100 Years of Burgenland
at Friedensburg Schlaining, Stadtschlaining
August 15, 2021
We go hunting … in the Salzkammergut
Marmorschlössl Bad Ischl, Imperial Villa Bad Ischl
May 13, 2023 – October 31, 2023
Even in ancient times, Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, stood by hunters and animals as their protector, armed with a bow and arrow. Nevertheless, hunting remained a male-dominated field for centuries. Until now, that is, because over the past ten years, the number of female hunters in Austria has nearly doubled. Yes, girls hunt too—but differently and with a strong media presence. Here, a new generation is discovering a traditional cultural practice and preserving a valuable custom—while shaping a modern understanding of hunting that has embraced nature conservation, species protection, and wildlife management as a way of life.
The exhibition *We Hunt … in the Salzkammergut* provides an overview of the history of hunting in the region, from hunting rituals to hunting attire and hunting music.
Graphic Design: Julia Oppermann
Artistic Direction and Design: Christof Cremer
Photos: Michael Maritsch
Schlaining Synagogue
in the former Schlaining Synagogue, Stadtschlaining
March 30, 2022
Former Synagogue in Stadtschlaining
With this restored synagogue, a place of remembrance and reflection has been created, but also a place of dialogue, curiosity, and “getting to know one another anew.”
The permanent exhibition, now complete, sheds light on the development of the Jewish community in Stadtschlaining. Through the objects and texts on display, Jewish life—both past and destroyed, as well as that lived today—here in Burgenland, as well as throughout the Jewish world, is presented and brought to life.
The central element of the exhibition is the symbolic form of a Star of David. The Star of David consists of six triangular black display cases. A black Star of David. But the display cases are illuminated—and so the star shines. A shining star that presents Jewish life, both historically and today. A glowing star representing the hope for a bright, shared future built on mutual understanding.
The former synagogue also houses a memorial dedicated to the Jewish population of Southern Burgenland, who were expelled and exterminated in 1938. The guiding principle, “Giving Space to the Absent,” is realized in the form of a fragmentary, stylized reconstruction of the interior furnishings—as a black shadow. The aim is to restore the spatial and synagogal context and to reconnect with the history of the synagogue and the Jewish residents of Stadtschlaining. By engraving the names and dates of birth, suffering, and death of the last Jews into the pews, these individuals and their personal histories are brought back to Stadtschlaining. In this way, they are rescued from the annihilation perpetrated by the Nazis. The memory of them, of their history, and of their fate remains alive. There is no gravestone bearing their names for the victims. Now that their names stand in the synagogue as a tribute to their memory, the installation serves as a gravestone and memorial. The installation defies any functionality or naturalism; it does not seek to be practical. It is black. Black as a shadow—the shadow of the past and the shadow of pain—as a hint of what once was here.
For a place like this—one that informs and moves people—to come into being, it takes people who develop and realize a shared vision and who work together intensively and with passion. The relevant institutions of the State of Burgenland, the lenders, as well as the Jewish Community of Graz, the Jewish Community of Vienna, LIKRAT, Misrachi Austria, the Austrian Jewish Museum in Eisenstadt, and the Burgenland State Museum.
Last but not least, I would like to thank the team led by Mag. Norbert Darabos for the trust they placed in my idea and concept! And to Prof. (FH) Mag. Awi Blumenfeld of the Jewish Community of Vienna, who, as the project’s academic and Jewish advisor, has guided the project with great passion.
Excerpts from the exhibition credits:
Chair of the Steering Committee for “100 Years of Burgenland”: Governor Mag. Hans Peter Doskozil
KBB – Kultur-Betriebe Burgenland GmbH, Franz Schubert-Platz 6, 7000 Eisenstadt
Friedensburg Schlaining Location
Management: DI Barbara Weißeisen-Halwax
Project Management and Overall Coordination: Mag. Tanja Stacherl, Christoph Langecker
Scientific Patron and Site Director: Mag. Norbert Darabos
Curated by: Mag. Christof Cremer
Academic & Jewish Advisor: Prof. (FH) Mag. Awi Blumenfeld
Exhibition Design, Artistic Direction, and Curation: Mag. Christof Cremer
Contribution to Preliminary Design: Mag. Franz Ehn
Detailed Planning, Bidding, and On-Site Construction Supervision: RIGEWA Riedner Gepp Waldhör Architekten ZT GmbH, Architect Matthias Riedner, Dipl. Ing.
Multimedia: ZONE Media GmbH
Graphic Design: DI Julia Oppermann
Illustration: Jovan Sertić
Structural design, exhibition design, display cases, and scenography: Winter Artservice
Project Leaders: Benjamin Reichert and Herbert Herl
Media Technology: Winter Artservice and cat-x exhibitions Prix KG
Project Manager: Florian Prix
Arthandling: Vienna Arthandling
Further information
ORF: Burgenland Today - Report on the Synagogue's Opening
Climate & Me
at the Museum of Lower Austria, St. Pölten
House for Nature
From March 22, 2020, to August 29, 2021
Curators: Therese Christine Brandl, Tino Blondiau, Erich Steiner
Artistic Direction and Design: Christof Cremer
Graphic Design: Julia Oppermann
More information...
Poster: Museum of Lower Austria, St. Pölten
Photos: Daniel Hinterramskogler
Stonehenge
at the MAMUZ Museum in Mistelbach
Exhibition opening: March 20, 2016
MAMUZ Management: Matthias Pacher
Overall Scientific Direction: Dr. Wolfgang Neubauer, Julian Richards
Artistic Direction and Overall Design: Christof Cremer
Artistic Space and Exhibition Design: Julia Oppermann
Project Manager, Exhibition Production: Matthias Pacher
More Information
© Photos: MAMUZ / Niki Gail
Salzburg Festival District 2030 Information Pavilion
Artistic Design of an Information Pavilion
for the Salzburg Festival District 2030
Opening: June 28, 2024
Client: Clavis Communications Consulting
Artistic Direction and Design: Christof Cremer
Graphic Design: Julia Oppermann
Photos: Jan Friese
The Ring of the Nibelung
On *The Ring of the Nibelung* by Richard Wagner
Cologne Opera
September 26, 2021
On September 26, 2021, not only did “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre” premiere in Hall II, but the exhibition about this Ring cycle also opened. I had the privilege of conceptualizing and designing the exhibition and bringing it to life together with the team at the Cologne Opera. The exhibition serves several purposes.
1. It documents that the Cologne Opera, under the artistic direction of Dr. Birgit Meyer, has made significant investments in children's opera.
2. It shows how the stage and musical versions are structured and what the underlying concept for direction and set design is.
3. It illustrates the artistic development process of the four productions.
4. It shows how theater works, from the initial idea through to its realization, at every stage.
5. It showcases the work of the wonderful departments at Bühnen Köln
6. Last but not least, it is also a sign of appreciation for the departments whose work is made transparent.
Every single object in the exhibition tells a story in its own right, but each one also showcases the exceptional technical, artisanal, and artistic quality of the craftspeople at Bühnen Köln; every single evening of the tetralogy speaks to the great care, attention, and professionalism at every level!
Artistic Direction and Design: Christof Cremer
Design: Christof Cremer
Photos: Paul Leclaire
Set design visualizations in the exhibition: Christopher Gruber
Costume illustrations in the exhibition: Andrea Költringer
Model Making: Alice Dal Bello and Alexander Harvey
The Joy of Life and the Dance of Death
Exhibition at the Kunsthalle Krems, “
,” July 18, 2010, through November 7, 2010
Curators: Wolfgang Schoppmann, Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
© Image: Shades of Olympus, Terry Rodgers
Big Emotions
at the Kunsthalle Krems
from March 10, 2013, to June 30, 2013
Curators: Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer, Irene Calderoni, Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
More Information
© Image: Maurizio Cattelan, Bidibidobidiboo, 1996, installation view
From: VBK Vienna, 2012, Courtesy of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Collection Torino
Kiki Kogelnik
at the Kunsthalle Krems
from July 14, 2013, to October 6, 2013.
Curators: Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer, Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
Further Information
Kiki Kogelnik, *It Hurts with a Tool*, 1975–76
© Kiki Kogelnik Foundation, Vienna/New York 2013
Yoko Ono. half-a-wind-show
at the Kunsthalle Krems
from October 20, 2013, to February 23, 2014
Curator: Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
More information...
Yoko Ono, Walking on Thin Ice, 1981, video still, © Lenono Photo Archive, 2013
Lower Austria State Exhibition 2013
in Poysdorf and Asparn, “
” from April 27 to November 3, 2013
Client
Schallaburg Kulturbetriebsges.m.b.H.
Artistic Director
Christof Cremer
>> Text on the Exhibition Design Download (PDF)
Collaboration on Preliminary Design:
DI Tobias Colz
Exhibition graphics / catalog:
DI Julia Oppermann
Detailed planning, construction supervision:
Baukultur – Renate Scheidenberger, Bmst. Ing., and Martin-Johannes Pecha, DI
Richard Wagner and the Viennese
Exhibition in the Ceremonial Hall of the Austrian National Library
from November 23, 2012, to February 10, 2013
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
More Information
© Photos: Austrian National Library/APA Photo Service/Hinterramskogler
Vienna
2013 marks the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth. To kick off the anniversary year, the Austrian National Library is presenting the exhibition *Loved, Laughed At, Idolized: Richard Wagner and the Viennese* in the Prunksaal. On November 22, 2012, Director General Johanna Rachinger, curator Thomas Leibnitz, and Clemens Hellsberg, chairman of the Vienna Philharmonic, officially opened the major exhibition honoring the popular yet controversial composer.
Berlinde De Bruyckere
at the Leopold Museum, Vienna
from April 8 to July 4, 2016
Curators: Stephanie Damianitsch
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
More information...
© Photos: Mirjam Devriendt
Wilhelm Lehmbruck
at the Leopold Museum, Vienna
from April 8 to July 4, 2016
Curators: Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
© Photos: Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg
Carl Spitzweg – Erwin Wurm
at the Leopold Museum, Vienna
, March 25 through June 19, 2017
Curators: Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
More information...
Photos: Carl Spitzweg - The Bookworm
Foreign Gods
at the Leopold Museum, Vienna
from September 23 to January 9, 2017
Curators: Erwin Melchardt, Ivan Ristić
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
More information...
Photos: Leopold Museum, Vienna
Pipilotti Rist
at the Kunsthalle Krems
from March 22 to June 28, 2015
Curators: Stephanie Damianitsch, Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
More information...
Photo: Lisa Rastl
150 Years of Linz AG
Client: Society for Experiential Marketing
Client: Linz AG, Linz
© Design: Christof Cremer, Photos: Albert Hönes
Richard Strauss – 100 Years of *Der Rosenkavalier*.
in the Ceremonial Hall of the Austrian National Library
, November 6, 2010 – March 6, 2011
“Like everything in the play—both real and fictional…”
Concept for the room installation: Christof Cremer
In Richard Strauss’s opera *Der Rosenkavalier*, based on a libretto by Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, the central theme is the main character’s—the Feldmarschallin’s—realization of her own mortality. The librettist sets the story in Vienna during the early years of Empress Maria Theresa’s reign. This roughly corresponds to the period when the State Hall was built; thus, the State Hall could be one of the opera’s settings. In the center of the Ceremonial Hall, a mirrored platform is constructed around the sculpture of Emperor Charles. The edge of the platform is adorned with all the figurines created by Alfred Roller for the premiere of *Der Rosenkavalier*. Four different groupings of figures are reenacted on the mirrored platform. These represent the four central scenes of the opera. The figures rotate around their own axes; the viewer first sees Roller’s figurines and then sees themselves, as the backs of each figure are also mirrored. The viewer can step into the roles of the opera’s characters and, at the same time, experience the Field Marshal’s Wife’s self-realization. The viewer thus becomes a participant. The Baroque space is also reflected in the platform, forming a sort of stage set. Like a music box, the figures’ movements are accompanied by a waltz from *Der Rosenkavalier* as background music.
© Visualization: Tobias Colz, Design: Christof Cremer
Of Angels & Imps
Exhibition at the Kunsthalle Krems, “
, ” from March 6, 2011, to July 3, 2011.
Curators: Nicole Fritz, Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: ChristofCremer
For more information, please click here.
©Image: Catalog cover for the exhibition: French School, Portrait of a Princess in a White Dress with a Dove.
Francis Picabia: Retrospective
at the Kunsthalle Krems
from July 15, 2012, to November 4, 2012.
Curator: Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
Further Information
© Image: Francis Picabia, *Femme nue*, ca. 1942, Ursula Hauser Collection, Switzerland
© Photo: Stefan Altenburger Photography, Zurich
From: VBK, Vienna 2012
Yoko Ono. half-a-wind-show
at the Kunsthalle Krems
from October 20, 2013, to February 23, 2014
Curator: Hans-Peter Wipplinger
Exhibition Design: Christof Cremer
More information...
Yoko Ono, Walking on Thin Ice, 1981, video still, © Lenono Photo Archive, 2013
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