Helena Skljarov

HOPE?

This year has been marked by an extraordinary loss of optimism in almost everything we see around us. Even compared to last year, it feels noticeable that more and more people are experiencing a sense of powerlessness–the feeling that they can’t change anything–and are looking toward the future with anxiety. This also affects people in the arts. At the same time, art can–and should–ask itself how to move through this state, and how to respond to it.

We asked the composers of ECLAT 2026 to reflect on the following questions:

🔹 Is music a way of changing anything in the world–even in a small way?
🔹 Can music be, at the very least, an emotional refuge for listeners?
🔹 Or is music, above all, a way of reflection?
🔹 Is music capable of capturing/echoing the time we live in? Or is it something separate–timeless, beyond the moment, and perhaps even in opposition to it?
🔹 How do you feel about this yourself–and how is it reflected in the music you are presenting at ECLAT this year?