With the calendrical beginning of summer, on the longest day of the year, La Strada 2021 also began. At sunrise on June 20, a “signal” was set – together with the Dutch sound artists Strijbos & Van Rijswijk, our partner Festival of the Regions Upper Austria and numerous local contributors, we continue to put an ear to the Dachstein Glacier – the beginning of a longer-term, interdisciplinary collaboration until 2024 with artists, cultural initiatives and experts from the region around the Dachstein.
The Graz Vigil project will enter its second phase on July 24. In an installation on Karmeliterplatz in Graz, the recordings of the more than 700 vigils that watched over Graz every day last year at sunrise and sunset will be processed and visitors can immerse themselves once again in this extraordinary project, which was implemented in cooperation with WLDN/Joanne Leighton and Graz Kulturjahr 2020.
And in the festival week starting on July 30, we will present a program that is dedicated in a diverse, subtle and thoroughly humorous way to the themes in a time of social change and considerable processes of change throughout Europe. These are the focal points on which our international network IN SITU will also focus in its new, four-year project (UN)COMMON Spaces from 2020 – 2024. The examination of social and socio-cultural constructs, diversity, social justice, cultural identity or the alliances between generations are guiding themes – as well as the serious changes in our environment and our living spaces.
Major crises and resulting collective fears form the breeding ground for right-wing populism and radicalism. That fascism grows through the fear it generates, and that the best antidote to this fear is a sense of humour, is proven by one of the greatest “clowns” of our time – the legendary Leo Bassi opens the La Strada 2021 festival with his extraordinary solo performance Me! Mussolini. on the stage of the Orpheum Graz, and in parallel, the artists of the Compagnie Rhizome at the Square of Reconciliation kick off the festival in public space with their sensitive dance-art performance “La Spire“.
For many years, La Strada has been particularly interested in the artistic traversal of urban space and the view of transformation processes in urban core and development zones. The artists of Cie XY, for example, together with local performers and singers, infiltrate the city with wondrous and unexpected encounters – “Les Voyages” is one of La Strada’s contributions to the cultural year, which has been extended.
And finally, La Strada will offer space for the long-awaited moments: the lingering with friends, the laughter, the amazement, the music, and maybe even the dance….
We are looking forward to these moments together.
Werner Schrempf | Â Artistic Director
Graz, July 2021
