Alpenfeuilleton
Susannah Haas, Oktober 31, 2016
Can the Arts loosen Europe's borders?
[...] After all, one of the essential parts of the festival was „The Soldier's Tale“ by Igor Strawinsky. The soldier exchanges his gun for a fiddle - just to lose it to the devil a short time after. The dancing performance, accompanied by the Camerata Innsbruck Ensemble and wonderfully choreographed by Daniel Renner, takes place on two levels: onstage and onscreen. The beginning mark CNN out-takes such as “Mosul Defense” and “ISIS Aussault” – signifying that the war is here and now, at Europe’s borders.
If we exchange the violin for a magic book, thus if we exchange art for power or meaning for purpose, we won’t get it back. The images of Strawinsky’s play are archaic. They come from a time before there existed something such as national identities. The message is universal. The soldier goes to hell, to violence and alienation. This is what happens if we give up on arts. Maybe, the festival “Borderless” wants to warn us about that. If so, the function of culture is defined anew, it is getting existentially.
Greece plays an important role in the whole festival, which is symbolically pleasant. The continent of Europe is difficult to imagine without Greece. Nowadays, the country sees itself not only culturally but as well politically on the edge. It is continously beeing marginalized - and marginalizes itself. Next to Berlin and Innsbruck, Athens is the third location of Camerata. The outstanding greek conductor Maria Makraki is the artistic director since over 10 years now. Of course this is always a political message in itself to a certain degree. Nevertheless politics should not gain the upper hand - otherwise the art is suffering.
https://www.afeu.at/kultur/2016/10/13462/kann-kunst-europas-grenzen-aufweichen/
ALPENFEUILLETON.pdf (262 KB)