European Alliance of AcademiesThe Climate We Live In. An Alliance Against the Far Right
The conference takes place in the run-up to the European elections, which will be held in Germany on 9 June 2024. Two months earlier, members of the European Alliance of Academies send a clear signal against the resurgence of right-wing extremism, antisemitism and racism. The members of the European Alliance of Academies, initiated by Academy President Jeanine Meerapfel, have been standing together for the freedom of art since 2020. The conference will focus on artists from various European countries affected by repression. They will bring their art to the European public and pass on their experiences to political decision-makers.
On the second day of the conference, Tuesday 26 March, the focus will be on the “Café Climate” format developed by the Alliance of Academies, which explores the connection between the climate crisis, art and democracy. Academy members from the literature section, Ulrike Draesner, A.L. Kennedy, Esther Kinsky, Dagmara Kraus, Ursula Krechel and Cécile Wajsbrot, will read texts they have written themselves that deal with the effects of climate change on their lives and discuss them with climate experts and the public.
The day begins with presentations of the results developed by firsttime voters in artistic workshops on the topic of Europe and democracy. In the afternoon, artists from all over Europe will come together. At the suggestion of the Hungarian Writers’ Association Szépírók Társaságá – a founding member of the European Alliance of Academies – they worked on a selection of Hungarian poems. The result is artistic works that respond to the social and political reality of contemporary life in Hungary, which are published on the digital platform for artistic collaboration Loom – Interweaving the Arts in Europe. István Szabó talks about his own experiences as a filmmaker in Hungary and Central Europe. In the debate Under Pressure. Artistic Creation in Difficult Times Marion Döring will explore the topic of artistic freedom in greater depth with artists Mónika Ferencz and Matei Bejenaru, journalist Gergely Nagy and theatre maker Edyta Sotowska-Śmiłek.
Programme on Tuesday, 26 March, 11 am – 12 pm, Plenary Hall
Presentations and Discussions
Results of school workshops with firsttime voters from Berlin and Bitterfeld-Wolfen, as well as artists Rolf Giegold and Yannik Böhmer
Tuesday, 26 March, 3 – 5 pm, Plenary Hall
Welcome
Jeanine Meerapfel, Filmmaker and President of the Akademie der Künste
Address (digital)
Alexandra Xanthaki, UN Special Rapporteur for Cultural Rights
Keynote
István Szabó, Filmmaker and Member of the Akademie der Künste
Presentation – Part I
I saw our Leaders. Reinterpreting Hungarian Poems Via Contemporary Art Practices
Moderation: Gergely Nagy, Writer and Journalist
Debate
Under Pressure. Artistic Creation in Difficult Times
Mónika Ferencz, Writer and Member of Szépírók Társasága
Matei Bejenaru, Visual Artist
Edyta Sotowska-Śmiłek, Deputy Director for marketing communications J.Słowackiego Theatre
Gergely Nagy, Writer and Journalist
Moderation: Marion Döring, Member of the Board of Directors of the Wim Wenders Stiftung
Präsentation – Teil II
I saw our Leaders. Reinterpreting Hungarian Poems Via Contemporary Art Practices
Moderation: Gergely Nagy, Writer and Journalist
Artistic works by Yese Astarloa, Matei Bejenaru, Lucija Bogunović, Sayaka Fujio, Paul Michels, Mariano Ortega, Dimitrina Popova and Laura Stojkoski
Poems by Réka Borda, Dénes Krusovzky and Mónika Ferencz
Tuesday, 26 March, 6 – 8 pm, Clubroom
Open Space: Café Climate
Readings and discussions with members of the literary section of the Akademie der Künste Ulrike Draesner, A.L. Kennedy (digital), Esther Kinsky, Dagmara Kraus, Ursula Krechel and experts, including Prof. Dagmar Haase (Urban Ecologist, Humboldt University Berlin), Prof. Claudia Kemfert (Energy Economist, DIW Berlin), Dr Damien Bright (Climate Anthropologist, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam), Marco Clausen (Co-founder Prinzessinnengärten) and journalist and activist of Letzte Generation Eckhard Roelcke.
Moderation by members of the Akademie der Künste Cécile Wajsbrot and Iris ter Schiphorst, Director of Akademie van Kunsten Liesbeth Bik, as well as artists Jovana Popić and Petja Ivanova.