Barbara is a master’s student in the Department of Historical Studies at the New School for Social Research with a background in art history and contemporary art. Barbara received her BA in art history from the University of Vienna, where she was introduced to the foundations of visual art. She is interested in the intersections between art, imperialism and empire, and the role of contemporary art museums in today’s world as well as their impact on communities within and beyond the museum.

Through positions in a gallery, an auction house, a contemporary arts festival, and museums, she learned to foster critical understanding of contemporary and modern art in a global context and to comprehend references and connections between past and present practices. As the curator of contemporary art at Neue Galerie in Graz, Austria, Barbara worked to find meaning and relevance for today’s social and political contexts in the arts of the past. As a teaching assistant for “Art and Participatory Practice” course at the New School, Barbara encouraged students to explore the past arts for their relevance in the present, keeping a critical eye on the way that the arts have been and continue to be used for political purposes and exclusionary practices.

As assistant curator with the Steirischer Herbst interdisciplinary festival in Graz, Barbara was able to work with a variety of people of different ages and educational backgrounds. She particularly enjoyed working with school- and university-age students in whom she could foster a passion for and critical understanding of modern and contemporary art. As a lecturer at the University of Arts Linz in the 2022–23 academic year, Barbara learned a valuable lesson: teaching is a two-way process that thrives with student engagement.

Barbara’s master's thesis looks into solidarity with Palestine by leftist groups in Austria in the 1960s and 1970s.