Vienna's Controversial Murals Remain in Limbo After Decades of Debate
A long-running debate continues over the fate of controversial ceramic murals created by artist Maître Leherb in Vienna's Old WU building. The works, completed between 1980 and 1992, depict stereotypical representations of continents, including naked, dark-skinned figures for Africa. Despite years of searching, Austria's federal property agency, BIG, has failed to find a permanent home for them.
The murals were intended to be Leherb's life-defining project. Yet, just five years after finishing them, he died from health complications linked to toxic ceramic dust. His granddaughter, Angela Kundegraber-Leherb, who manages his estate, insists he was neither racist nor anti-feminist. She remains baffled by the ongoing controversy.
Art historian Christian Kravagna has criticised the murals as deeply rooted in colonialist and racist traditions. He describes Leherb as a 'society artist' with strong political ties, which likely helped secure the commission. In 2010, Walter Rosenkranz—a lawmaker at the time, now President of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ)—submitted a parliamentary query to protect the murals during an ownership transfer. Efforts to relocate the works have repeatedly failed. Museums such as the Vienna Museum and MUMOK, along with Vienna Airport, have all refused to take them, citing concerns over content or practical issues like weather resistance. BIG has documented the murals through photography, photogrammetry, and 3D modelling, but no viable solution has emerged. During a temporary relocation, Kravagna and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna organised seminars and interventions. These added anti-colonial and feminist texts to contextualise the murals. Still, after more than 15 years, BIG continues its search for a new location—without success.
The murals remain in limbo, rejected by institutions and caught between preservation efforts and ethical concerns. BIG's documentation ensures their digital record, but their physical future is still unresolved. The debate highlights the challenges of handling historically contentious art in modern contexts.
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