19.09.2024 – 13.10.2024
Nationalism – whether newly burgeoning, smouldering or never extinguished – continues to spread worldwide. Danger recognised, danger averted, you might think. In this super election year, however, the horror could become permanent. People are susceptible to seductive slogans. steirischer herbst wants to expose the seduction, question the narratives, dissect the fatherland and put its horrors in their place. The means are the same as in the founding phase of the festival in the late 1960s, when the aftermath of National Socialism was omnipresent: Performances, exhibitions, interventions, music and literature. Back then, they were intended to disturb, shake things up, tear away the masks and dispel the stink. They have to do the same today. The title of steirischer herbst ‘24: Horror Patriae – Horror of the Fatherland. The Latin title is a hybrid, created from the love of the fatherland (amor patriae) and the horror of emptiness (horror vacui). But what is the fatherland? How is it created? Who defines it? And why on earth should we love it? Or fear it? Intendant and chief curator Ekaterina Degot on the concept: Is our origin important? Is it important where we were born? The world seems increasingly convinced of this. We should have ancestors, roots, traditions, identities, territories, tribes and nations. We must belong. For those who don’t belong, who feel excluded or don’t identify with their nation, this is frightening. Perhaps even a horror. A horror of the fatherland. The homeland becomes scary. Do you live in your country of birth? Are you part of the ‘dominant culture’? Would you like to be? These are serious questions, but they also open the door to imagination and humour. Nations, borders, roots and customs are more fiction than reality. One of the places where they have historically emerged is the museum. This is why the central group exhibition is centred around the Universalmuseum Joanneum and its history. steirischer herbst ‘24 will be opened by Natalia Pschenitschnikova with her musical performance A.E.I.O.U. in the Lesliehof together with six other renowned musicians.
steirischer herbst 2024
19.09.2024 – 13.10.2024
Various locations Graz / Styria
www.steirischerherbst.at
