The idea was to create a new embroidery museum not only as a place of remembrance (the collective / communal memory), but also as a place for productive dynamics: a balancing and meaningful bridge between the (not only positively perceived) cultural heritage on the one hand, and the tense present and future on the other.

The new S-MAK sees itself as a place of encounter and exchange, as a place where people from Lustenau (and the surrounding area) can discuss without reservation where they come from and where they are heading.

The first embroidery museum in Lustenau was opened in 1971 - at the same time as the Vorarlberg Embroidery Centre. Until its closure at the Pontenstraße site in spring 2015, the collection was owned by the embroidery association. The association has since handed over the collection to the market town.

The cultural department of the market town immediately took this situation as an opportunity to reorganise the collection at a new location in a new location and on the basis of a serious concept. It did so in the knowledge that a conceptual reorientation can also be used as a rare and great opportunity.

The conceptual reorientation led to the founding of the association Stickerei – Museum. Archiv. Kommunikation (S-MAK), which dedicated itself to exploring the possibilities of a new presentation of embroidery in the coming years. In addition to experimenting with event formats, the association also took care of setting up the structures for a future museum and recording and digitising the collection.

The new S-MAK institution, which opened in 2024 and built on numerous activities of the S-MAK association, finally moved to a location in 2023 where the three facets of the name - museum, archive, communication - could be brought together in many voices.

On 3 October 2024, the new S-MAK opened with a temporary presentation of objects from the collection in the temporary exhibition and a semi-permanent themed exhibition on the production of embroidery.

The design of the space, the narrative of the exhibitions and the structure of the institution are closely intertwined in the S-MAK's understanding of the museum. Parallel to the exhibitions, regular presentations take place that make the principle and functions of the embroidery machines on display and thus also the processes necessary for the production of embroidery tangible.

The common goal of all these facets is to create an exciting, critical and constantly expanding new presentation of embroidery, its past, present and future and to link it to Vorarlberg's industrial culture.