1975

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With the establishment of open house at the Haus der Jugend (now known as Orpheum), steirischer herbst pursued its efforts to attract more visitors for contemporary art. In combination with popular formats like pantomime, cabaret, chanson, literature, and film, an audience of all ages was also to be introduced to contemporary music. One highlight was the evening Heimat bist du großer Töne (Home Art Thou to Great Sounds)—political songs and cabaret with Schmetterlinge & Kabarett Keif.

The Austrian premiere of Wolfgang Bauer’s Gespenster (Ghosts) in October 1975 was one of the legendary scandals of steirischer herbst. The destructive urges of young people in Bauer’s play gave rise to protests and demands that the festival be done away with. During a heated discussion at a session of the Landtag at which one representative of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) spoke out against steirischer herbst, Hanns Koren made one of his grand appearances and defended the avant-garde in a memorable speech. He pointed out that although he did not approve of Bauer’s provocative presentation, he was against censoring it: “What takes place on the stage is not reality, but instead a presentation of reality.”[footnote Cited in Helmut Bast, “Mythos mit Wetterfleck: Hanns Koren Bedenkjahr 2006,” Falter, 19 April 2006, p. 4.]

For the fiftieth issue of manuskripte, the literature magazine of the Forum Stadtpark, its editor Alfred Kolleritsch, who had become a member of the Program Directorate of steirischer herbst one year before, presented a folio with works by all the authors of the first fifteen years. The Kulturhaus Graz mounted the exhibition titled Anfänge des Informel in Österreich 1949–1953: Maria Lassnig, Oswald Oberhuber, Arnulf Rainer (Beginnings of Art Informel in Austria 1949–53: Maria Lassnig, Oswald Oberhuber, Arnulf Rainer), while trigon 75 took place under the motto identity/alternative identity/anti-identity.

Program