Epilog

Today, on the day of the final editing of this programme, we are surprised by overwhelming news: Maria Kalesnikava is free, along with 122 other political prisoners in Belarus. Relief and exuberant joy! The lust for power of an (unelected) autocrat put her in a labour camp, and the power of an (elected) quasi-autocrat has now brought her out again. Otherwise, she would not have been released; the world simply works according to the method of ‘pressure and deals’ (known as diplomacy). Humanity plays no role in the world of the powerful, nor do the human rights to which their states once committed themselves. The law of the strongest prevails.

 

If we want to regain hope for a better world, we must be the strongest. And that is only possible if we, as civil societies of this world, become strong again. We must not allow ourselves to be fragmented by the manipulation machines of those obsessed with power. We must see people and not religious, national or gender affiliations. We must overcome camp thinking. We must not cancel each other culturally. We must be free in our minds.

 

And that is only possible if we all take action together. That includes us, the artists. Especially us! Because we have something to offer, our very own methods: a change of perspective, differentiation, concentration, a broad focus, the discarding of ‘certainties’ and the constructive that arises from this.

 

However, we should not be satisfied with full houses. Perhaps we need to learn to listen, to offer shared creative spaces, to create not only for people, but together with people.
This will be the focus of Musik der Jahrhunderte next year. And it will become visible at ECLAT 2027 at the latest. Despite a significantly smaller budget, we want to continue to offer a diverse and complex programme in the future. Bringing together the unexpected, the unfamiliar, the contradictory, excellence, the overwhelming, innovation, discourse and the world: creating a place where a wide variety of things can collide in a condensed period of time.