Steirischer herbst turns dating warnings into festival theme

The steirischer herbst arts festival will use the “red flags” of dating culture to draw attention to discrimination, war and political tensions, ORF reports. The festival runs from September 24 to October 18.

Festival director Ekaterina Degot said at the programme presentation that the warnings came from a specific direction. The presentation took place in a former inn that is now vacant at Graz’s Griesplatz. The building appeared in a far right video that went viral online and targeted migrants.

“As steirischer herbst, we stand in solidarity with residents and businesses with a migrant background,” Degot said.

She said that artists and curators moving between countries was an everyday reality in the art world. “We are international. The mission of steirischer herbst is to break monoethnicity,” she said.

Degot also called it scandalous that a House of Folk Culture was to be built in Graz, a project jointly initiated by the Johann-Joseph-Fux Conservatory and Volkskultur Steiermark and supported by the Freedom Party of Austria. It was equally scandalous, she said, that contemporary culture was being “starved and devalued” at the same time.

Wrestling performance to open festival

The festival’s 59th edition will open on September 24 at Graz’s Karmeliterplatz. After the opening speech, German-British artist Julian Warner will present a wrestling performance described by Line Spellenberg, the new curator for theatre and performance, as “entertaining but not harmless.” A party in the square will follow.

The opening evening will continue at the Helmut List Hall with a dance performance by Berlin-based Polish-British choreographer Alex Baczyński-Jenkins, followed by a club night.

Main exhibition moves into Baroque building

The main exhibition will be held in a Baroque building dating from the 17th century at the junction of Griesplatz and Rösselmühlgasse. The building will also serve as the Herbstcafé, press centre and main information point for visitors.

For the first time, the exhibition is scheduled to remain open beyond the festival. While the festival ends on October 18, the exhibition will continue until November 15. Workshops and other educational activities run by the festival’s education programme will also continue until then.

Several prominent women artists, including Heather Phillipson and Julia S. Goodman, will use different rooms in the exhibition to introduce visitors to fictional residents. These include members of feminist sects, detectives and cam girls in trenches.

In Josefin Arnell’s work “Edge of Empire”, performer and choreographer Florentina Holzinger will appear as the Styrian proto-vampire Carmilla. Holzinger has achieved international fame, particularly since this year’s Biennale, according to the festival.

Partner programme includes 29 projects

Over the festival’s four weeks, the programme will include theatre productions, performances, cabaret, music events and other activities. They include a performance by Vienna-based artist Stina Fors at the Welsche Kirche at Griesplatz, the premiere of Franz von Strolchen’s “Austria Demenzia” at the Orpheum, which examines the future of remembrance culture, and a new work by the Rabtaldirndln about patriarchal traditions of violence and femicide.

The ORF Musikprotokoll will return from October 3 to 11 under the title “Supernova”. The literature festival “Out of Joint” will take place under the motto “dissident”, with guests including Lisz Hirn, Florian Scheuba and Şeyda Kurt.

The partner programme includes 29 projects. Partners include Forum Stadtpark, Schauspielhaus, the opera, the House of Architecture and Kunsthaus, as well as numerous other initiatives and institutions.