2016

steirischer herbst ’16
Wir schaffen das. (We can do this.)—On the Shifting of Cultural Cartographies

Director
Veronica Kaup-Hasler

Festival dates
23.9.–16.10.2016

Curatorial team
Chief Dramaturge: Martin Baasch

Dramaturge: Flori Gugger

Production Dramaturge: Petra Pölzl

Curator Visual Arts: Luigi Fassi

Music Curator Club: Norman Palm

Artistic Assistance: Johanna Rainer

musikprotokoll: Susanna Niedermayr, Elke Tschaikner, Fränk Zimmer

“It’s not surprising that one issue dominates discussion this year, also in art, one which preoccupies us more than ever: Old Europe and its relationship to the rest of the world.Current political conditions, refugee movements and the related discussions shows just how fundamentally has become negotiable - politically, economically, culturally and ethically - and has come under immense pressure, both from within and without.”
“This year’s leitmotif ‘Wir schaffen das. On the Shifting of Cultural Cartographies’ presumptuously recalls a phrase used by Angela Merkel, in turn quoting Barack Obama—a naive and fateful statement perhaps, but one which hints at the potential utopian content of basic values of humane, peaceful coexistence, a community bound by solidarity that—as entrenched in most constitutions—guarantees equal opportunities, free access to education and security. And one which together finds ways of meeting the challenges of the day in a pragmatic manner, not driven by fear.
Topics and questions such as these run through the programme of 2016 steirischer herbst, featuring in many different ways in artistic and curatorial interventions.”
—Veronica Kaup-Hasler (original booklet translation)

The relationship of Old Europe to the world was not only the theme of steirischer herbst in 2016. Wir schaffen das: Über die Verschiebung kultureller Kartografien (We Can Do This—On the Shifting of Cultural Cartographies) was the leitmotif examined by events such as the conference Welcome to the Former West: Mental Maps and Decolonial Perspectives on the Here and Now at Orpheum. In Empire at the Schauspielhaus, the Swiss director Milo Rau and his International Institute of Political Murder presented the stories of people who came to Europe as refugees or have their home on its fringes, posing the question: “Are ancient European traditions endangered, or is migration not simply one of them?”

With Guerrilla, the Catalonian artist group El Conde de Torrefiel took a look at the hidden fears of citizens of Graz, and, in Seggauberg, the Angolan artist Kiluanji Kia Henda created his hitherto largest Land Art installation consisting of hundreds of iron rods: a memorial to people who have lost their lives fleeing from war or other situations hostile to life. Other outposts were Leutschach in southern Styria, where the documentary theater duo Hans-Werner Kroesinger and Regine Dura traced border demarcations in the history of the region on performative walks, and the Hugo Wolf Saal in Leibnitz, where the Greek Blitz Theatre Group staged a surreal waltz of the dead in the rubble of Europe.

The opening was staged by Philippe Quesne with Die Nacht der Maulwürfe (Welcome to Caveland!) (The Night of the Moles [Welcome to Caveland!]) at the Helmut List Halle. At Orpheum, Apichatpong Weerasethakul presented his film Cemetery of Splendor and his first theater work, Fever Room, as a premiere in German-speaking countries.

Program

Opening

Theatre / Dance / Performance / Film

Cross Over

Visual Arts

Theory / Discourse

Music

Documentary

Festival opening

23.09., 19:30
Helmut List Halle
Philippe Quesne (FR) - The night of the Moles (Welcome to Caveland!)

Venues

< rotor >

Arrival Zone

Arrival Zone, < rotor >

Arrival Zone, Pavillon im Volksgarten, Orpheum

Camera Austria

Dom im Berg

Forum Stadtpark

Galerie Marenzi Leibnitz, Seggauberg Leibnitz

Grazer Kunstverein

HDA - Haus der Architektur Graz

Hauptplatz Leibnitz, Kniely Haus Leutschach

Helmut-List-Halle

Helmut-List-Halle, Kunsthaus Graz / Space05

Hugo Wolf Saal, Leibnitz

Kniely Haus Leutschach

Kniely Haus Leutschach, Heurigenschank Fedl Allerheiligen bei Wildon, Orpheum Extra, Marenzikeller Leibnitz

Kunsthalle Graz

Kunsthaus Graz

Kunsthaus Graz / Space 01

Kunsthaus Graz / Space 02

Kunsthaus Graz / Space05

Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien

MUMUTH

Neue Galerie Graz

ORF 2

ORF Radio Steiermark, Kniely Haus Leutschach, Rathaus Leibnitz, Forum Stadtpark

Orpheum

Orpheum Extra

Pavillon im Volksgarten

Schauspielhaus Graz

TU Graz / Neue Chemie

Volksgartenstraße 4-6

esc medien kunst labor

the smallest gallery - collaboration space

Publications

Program booklet of steirischer herbst 2016: steirischer herbst festival gmbh, steirischer HERBST (Graz:  2016)

steirischer herbst festival gmbh, herbst. Theorie zur Praxis (Graz: 2016)

→  Available here

Zasha Colah (Ed.), body luggage. migration of gestures (Berlin: Archive Books, 2016)

Nathalie Ofenböck, Nino Mandl, Das grüne Album. Wiener Reise durch die Steiermark (Graz: steirischer herbst, 2016)

→  Available here

Retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective