WITHOUT DEMOCRACY NO ART, WITHOUT ART NO DEMOCRACY

New Year's reception 2025

Helfried Carl, Milo Rau and Elisabeth Schweeger in dialogue
WITHOUT DEMOCRACY NO ART, WITHOUT ART NO DEMOCRACY

The freedom of art and our democracy cannot be taken for granted. They must be defended. In the Austrian national elections, the FPÖ emerged as the party with the most votes for the first time. Herbert Kickl's concept of culture - according to his election programme - is based on his role models Hungary and Slovakia: a cut in subsidies for „woke events“, specifically the European Song Contest and the Vienna Festival. Milo Rau, festival director and passionate theatre maker, describes this development as „fascist realism“.

How can art respond? What cultural policy is needed to take countermeasures? What strategies are needed to protect democracy from anti-constitutional and anti-democratic forces? The Austrian Society for Cultural Policy and the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue invite you to a discussion with high-profile guests from the worlds of art, culture and politics as part of their first joint New Year's Reception 2025.

Greeting:
Rudolf Scholten, President of the Bruno Kreisky Forum
Katharina Kucharowits, President of the Austrian Society for Cultural Policy

It discusses:
Helfried Carl, Partner of the Innovation in Politics Institute in Vienna and founder of the European Capital of Democracy initiative
Milo Rau, director, playwright, essayist and academic, artistic director of the Wiener Festwochen
Elisabeth Schweeger, literary scholar, cultural manager and artistic director; artistic director of the Capital of Culture 2024 Bad Ischl/Salzkammergut
Moderation
Katharina Kucharowits, President of the Austrian Society for Cultural Policy

Music: Birgit Denk, singer, lyricist and presenter

Copyright photos: Rau ©Michela Di Savino/WIener Fetswochen, Schweeger ©die arge lola, Denk ©C.Stadler/Bwag, Carl, Kucharowits: private