13 February 2024

European Elections 2024: European Alliance of Academies Calls for Elections for a Democratic Europe

Conference March 25 – 26 2024, Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz

The conference “Das Klima, in dem wir leben. Eine Allianz gegen Rechtsextremismus“ [The Climate We Live In. An Alliance Against the Far Right] is marked by the run-up to the European elections, which will be held in Germany on 9 June 2024.

Two months before that, members of the European Alliance of Academies send a clear signal against the renewed strengthening of right-wing extremism, antisemitism and racism.
After a welcoming address by Minister of State for Culture and the Media Claudia Roth during the opening, publicist and historian Meron Mendel will speak about the debate on artistic freedom in Germany. Since 2020, the members of the European Alliance of Academies, which was initiated by Academy President Jeanine Meerapfel, have jointly advocated the freedom of art. This important element of democracy is being curtailed by undemocratic forces. The conference will focus on artists from various European countries and the repressive measures that affect them. They take their art to the European public and share their experiences with political decision-makers.

The “Café Climate” format developed by the Alliance of Academies identifies the links between climate crisis, art and democracy. Academy members of the literature section, Ulrike Draesner, A. L. Kennedy, Esther Kinsky,
Dagmara Kraus, Ursula Krechel and Cécile Wajsbrot will read specially written texts dealing with the impacts of climate change on their lives and then discuss them with climate experts and the public.

At the suggestion of the Hungarian writers' association Szépírók Társaságá – a founding member of the European Alliance of Academies – nine artists from all over Europe have discussed a selection of Hungarian poems. The results are artistic works which respond to the social and political reality of today’s life in Hungary.

With Mirosław Bałka, Ulrike Draesner, Wolfgang Kaleck, A. L. Kennedy, Esther Kinsky, Dagmara Kraus, Ursula Krechel, Jákob Ladányi, Jeanine Meerapfel, Meron Mendel, Maria Anna Potocka, Aleš Šteger, István Szabó, Manos Tsangaris, Cécile Wajsbrot and others as well as digital statements made by Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and the Media, and Alexandra Xanthaki, UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.

Music: Floros Floridis and AoA Impro Group

Event dates
European Alliance of Academies
Das Klima, in dem wir leben. Eine Allianz gegen Rechtsextremismus
[The Climate We Live In. An Alliance Against the Far Right]
Monday, 25 March 2024, 7 pm
Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 3 pm & 6 pm
In English and German
www.allianceofacademies.eu
Free admission