THE BRIEFING · 17.09.2026 · 08:00 / 14:00 / 20:00
The two‑day PLUM! festival brings international and local independent music acts to Pavilion 21 at the Otto‑Wagner‑Areal in Vienna on 18–19 September 2026. The event is presented by Fractal Nights and Siluh Records in cooperation with Kollektiv Kaorle.
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Oscar winner Mike van Diem shot the film Our Girls (original title Voor de Meisjes) as a Dutch–Austrian–Belgian co‑production in Tyrol and other Austrian locations; the film premiered at the Netherlands Film Festival 2025 and received multiple Golden Calf awards.
During opening hours two men smashed a display case at Vienna’s MAK and removed a historic Van Cleef & Arpels collar on loan to the museum. Witness testimony published in Die Presse questions entry controls while police and the museum say they are cooperating on the investigation.
Víkingur Ólafsson appeared as soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at Grafenegg on 29 August 2026; critics praised his lyrical Adagio and baroque encores, which one reviewer likened to a ‘Doctor Doolittle’ moment.
A column by Tobias Müller on derStandard.at describes the return of wild bilberries – locally called »Schwarzbeeren« – and their use in a traditional dessert, the Kipferlschmarrn.
A funded FWF edition project will systematically edit Erich Fried’s BBC 'Intimus' broadcasts to GDR listeners: hundreds of drafts, multiple variants and a small set of audio recordings are to be transcribed, annotated and made digitally accessible, offering new evidence for Cold War cultural debate.
The Haydneum Eszterháza Festival opened on 28 August 2026 with a concert performance of Joseph Haydn’s opera Orlando paladino in the Apollo Hall at Esterházy Palace. The festival organiser and performers confirm the event; a review appeared in Die Presse.
An opinion piece in an Austrian daily has reignited a debate about whether professional writing can provide a living wage. State support, market mechanics and visible crises on literary stages are part of the discussion.
The Wiener Aktionismus Museum’s Otto Muehl show has sparked dispute: a poster image appears to be a work depicting a person for whom one newspaper found no documented consent. Museum statements and press reporting present conflicting accounts.
Caroline Wahl's new novel '1999 Meter über dem Meer' was published by Rowohlt on 28 August 2026. Publishing data and early media coverage point to significant interest while sales figures and longer-term reception remain uncertain.
Three cultural highlights for Saturday: a new Netflix thriller with a star cast, an Australian drama premiere on Paramount+, and a live festival opera broadcast on 3sat.
DerStandard published a ten‑question quiz drawn from the individual qualification of QuizAustria 2025. The piece highlights both the growing visibility of quiz culture in Austria and unresolved issues around rights, platform links and media use of competition content.
Europol warns of a shifting risk: museums across Europe are increasingly the scene of forceful, confrontational thefts rather than the classic stealthy master thief. Recent incidents in Spain and Vienna underline the change.
Moritz Schmid, known in German-speaking countries as a 'mushroom influencer' and mycology communicator, has published a cookbook with DK that pairs vegetarian mushroom recipes with notes on species and seasonality. A newspaper excerpt presented a single recipe from the book.
On 27 August a display case in an unnamed museum in central Vienna was smashed and an exhibit taken. Vienna police and the federal cultural property unit are reported to be investigating; the museum has not been publicly identified.
In the early hours of 27 August 2026 the Tesoro de Villena was taken from the Museo de Villena. Spanish police have opened an investigation into the theft of one of Europe’s most important Bronze Age ensembles.
Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese avant‑garde artist renowned for polka dots and mirrored 'Infinity Rooms', has died at age 97, her museum and studio announced. Exhibitions will continue as scheduled for now.
British actor and musical star Tim Curry has died at 80. Multiple reputable outlets cite confirmation from his long-time manager; reports differ on timing and no official cause has yet been released.
An immersive light and media art project named NEBULA will open in the historic Badehaus of the Beelitz Heilstätten in September 2026. Organisers and artists have been publicly identified; some operational and funding details remain unclear.
Dolly Parton, the country music legend, died on August 25, 2026, at age 80. Her family announced the death in a video; her publicist said she died after a brief battle with cancer at Vanderbilt‑Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville.
Paramount is reportedly developing a sequel to the 2003 rom‑com How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Kate Hudson is attached as a producer and the studio is said to hope for a reunion with Matthew McConaughey — but the project remains in very early development.
Country music star Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026, at age 80. Her representatives said she passed away after a brief battle with cancer; medical specifics have not been disclosed.
Das Festival beginnt am 25. August 2026 in Görlitz und läuft bis 13. September. Auf dem Programm stehen Konzerte, Theater, Diskussionen und Ausstellungen an Spielorten in Brandenburg und Sachsen.
Die für 2026 angekündigten 250 Millionen Euro der wirtschaftlichen Bundesfilmförderung sind nach Angaben von Ministerium, FFA und Branchenmedien durch hohe Antragseingänge rasch beansprucht worden. Der vorläufige Antragsstopp belastet Produktionsplanungen und löst scharfe Kritik von Produzentenverbänden aus.
Federal economic film funding for 2026 is exhausted. The government sees evidence of a stronger production location; producers also see a planning problem. Both readings can be true at the same time.
International artists are shaping the festival in Saalfelden, showing how cultural events outside major cities can build European reach.
The Ruhrtriennale has opened its new season, again turning halls, machine rooms and former industrial sites into performance spaces.
The 80th Bregenz Festival is heading toward roughly 273,000 visitors. At the same time, cuts in public funding are already changing the programme: there is to be no theatre production in 2027. Strong ticket demand does not automatically protect culture from structural austerity.
Since July, Edinburgh has charged a five percent visitor levy on many overnight stays. Major festivals now want a larger share of the revenue. The dispute raises a wider question for cultural cities: who finances success when success itself creates infrastructure costs?
A former military museum in Durham has reopened as a contemporary art centre. Works by Tracey Emin, Steve McQueen and Olafur Eliasson underline the ambition: cultural infrastructure should grow outside London too.
The tomb of Emperor Otto the Great in Magdeburg Cathedral is being redesigned. The intervention shows how historic sites are reinterpreted through research, conservation and public storytelling.