Where better to have a small, but fine, design and art event than at Vienna’s main cluster of contemporary cultural institutions. Browse your way around the stalls and tables of the WAMP design market.
- Located at the MuseumsQuartier
- Sometimes open-air, sometimes indoors
- Features local & international artists & designers
- Several editions each year
- Future 2024 dates:
- Dec 7th
- Book a walking tour* of historical Vienna
- See also:
Where art meets people
(View across the forecourt and market with the Natural History Museum in the distance)
Given the city’s long existence, the words Vienna and design tend to crop up a lot in historical terms: particularly the era of Viennese modernism around 1900. But contemporary design is alive and well in this large, modern, multicultural conurbation.
WAMP stands for Where Art Meets People, and the design market adds its name to a list of events that brings you into close contact with the creative community. Another example is the regular Edelstoff market.
Edelstoff occupies converted industrial premises, but WAMP enjoys a touch more imperial flair in its choice of venue.
This small open-air market takes place at the MuseumsQuartier (MQ): once home to the court stables but now a haven for contemporary culture with its art museums and venues.
Depending on the season, the event runs outdoors along the front façade or indoors in one of the MQ tracts.
On my visit, the WAMP market featured two longish rows of small stands and tables occupied by a variety of designers and artists. These offered everything from the unconventional to the elegant and innovative.
The choice covered the range of products you might expect: contemporary art for your walls; candles and cards; clothes and fashion accessories; jewelry and cosmetics; and more.
(Picked up some bath salts in the shape of a chocolate bar from Naturo Theke on my last visit. Little gift for my sister)
You might well find the kind of items that store easily in your luggage and make unique quality gifts for folk back home.
If you feel thirsty or hungry, I spotted a couple of mobile coffee stands and a smidgeon of street food. But the MuseumsQuartier complex has several cafés and restaurants around its various courtyards anyway.
Dates, tickets & tips
Planned dates for the rest of 2024 are December 7th. Watch the official website (see below) for confirmation.
Access to the market is normally free.
Once you’re done with your market visit, the MuseumsQuartier has more options for those who appreciate good design.
The Leopold Museum, for example, displays numerous works from the era of the Wiener Moderne in their permanent exhibition; their special exhibitions might also have a design focus.
Also consider the Furniture Museum, which lives a few streets beyond the MQ as you travel away from the centre. It has plenty of gorgeous pieces from throughout the centuries inside.
And a few tram stops around the Ring takes you to the MAK: a museum with design and contemporary art as its focus.
How to get to WAMP
Follow the travel advice in the MuseumsQuartier article; depending on the season / weather, the market either occupies space in front of the main MQ façade or in the tract behind that façade: you can’t miss it.
Address: Museumsplatz 1/5, 1070 Vienna | Website