One week ago today, on 4 August 2026, the vernissage for the installation „Connected With“ by Hubert Kostner took place at the MMM Corones on the Kronplatz. The South Tyrolean artist has dedicated his artwork, which spans several levels of the museum, entirely to the theme of climbing rope.
The rope, as one of the central elements of traditional mountaineering, here stands not only for the sport of climbing but also embodies strong social and emotional bonds: it connects, holds together and fosters trust – whether as a symbol of the classic rope team in climbing or in the form of the metaphorical umbilical cord between mother and child; it simply represents the connection between people.
“The rope is symbolic of a relationship.”
What makes the installation particularly special is also its origins: all the ropes used were donated specifically for the project. And each rope tells its own personal story, because behind every single one there are experiences, emotions, places and encounters between people. Used ropes were collected and the individual stories behind them were woven into a single narrative.
“I believe that ropes are symbolic objects for the great or traumatic experiences people have had.” – Hanspeter Eisendle
“Every rope tells a story – it is a means to an end, a way of telling a story.” – Barbara Zangerl
The morning began with the official unveiling and a presentation of the project by artist Hubert Kostner, museum director Magdalena Messner and MMM curator Agathe Fischnaller. As a special guest, Kruno Stephan Thaleck (Thaleck Group, which had realised the museum together with Zaha Hadid in 2015) explained the technical details of the attachment of the massive installation to the museum’s distinctive CEton building. This was followed by photographer and filmmaker Philipp Egger, who had accompanied the project from the start with his camera. He interviewed both the artist and selected rope donors about the stories behind their ropes. Following the speeches, the accompanying film by Philipp Egger, “Im Knoten”, premiered in the museum cinema.
After the film screening and a Q&A session with the protagonists of the art project, the successful vernissage drew to a close with a lively aperitif.