Philoxenia
Curator: Tessa Szyszkowitz
Historian, journalist and author
Philoxenia started in November 2017 as a lecture series curated, moderated and scientifically supervised by the London based journalist Tessa Szyszkowitz. Philoxenia, the concept of hospitality, was cultivated in antique Greece. The love of the other seems to be especially necessary today, when populist movements threaten to eclipse rational thinking. It seems urgent to find alternatives to fear and xenophobia as driving forces of political processes.
Philoxenia’s guests bring their topics from a different context to Vienna. The reflection helps new images and thoughts to emerge in subsequent conversation. This was the persistent line in all Philoxenia talks so far: the intercultural context allows the extension of the usual comfort zone of thinking. Today, when many draw back from the complicated situation in the world, the continuation of Philoxenia seems of utmost importance.