International online cultural projects of Austrian international culture.
The Corona crisis has made our world small. Shutdowns, border closures and the extensive suspension of international air traffic have also had a massive impact on the mobility and international cooperation opportunities for artists. Much had to be cancelled, postponed and only a small number of projects were able to be digitized and transferred to the web.
It is precisely in these special times that physically real international cultural networks on site are of particular importance. For after several months of exile in the virtual cultural space, it has become clear to everyone: Digital alone is not enough.
This is exactly where the project www.austriakulturdigital.at by the network of Austrian International Culture comes in. It links the physical local structures of the Austrian Cultural Fora around the world with a project platform on the Internet. In this way, international cultural cooperation becomes possible even during the coronarelated mobility restrictions, which would never have been possible without this combination of onsite presence and digital elements.
An example of this is the project „No Place like the Future“ in which Austrian and American artists meet and think together about a world after Corona. Or „Virtual Encounters“, which documents the exciting exchange between author Andrea Grill and translator Tess Lewis.
Teresa Indjein, Head of the International Culture Section: „Making the activities of Austrian artists and cultural workers digi- tally visible is of particular concern to us in the age of COVID-19. Our new online project is intended to provide a platform to illustrate the diversity of contemporary Austrian international cultural work.“
An online project of this kind cannot replace real travels and tours, but interesting hybrids are created, which now find a new home and platform. austriakulturdigital.at shows the range of Austrian cultural fora work. Here you can find the entire cultural diversity: from readings to installations and concerts, dialogue and discourse. The resulting cultural space is valuable in every respect – it makes visible and shows the wealth of foreign culture.
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www.austriakulturdigital.at
