The title of the festival is Volksfronten—consciously used in the somewhat unconventional plural form—references very different historical contexts—the antifascist coalitions of the 1930s, an ultra-rightwing nationalist group in the US, the ironic name given to representative facades in the GDR—thus addressing the heated ideological battles and collapsing political dichotomies of the present.
As the core program of this year’s festival, Volksfrontenincludes installation, performative, as well as discursive projects by over 40 artists, many of them newly commissioned by steirischer herbst, and is conceived as a single parcours spread out over the city of Graz. Almost all works are newly commissioned and are being produced especially for this year’s edition.
In addition to Volksfronten, the Collateral Program constituted of various exhibitions and events by many cultural institutions in Graz, as well as musikprotokoll, a festival platform dedicated to contemporary and experimental music conceived and organized by ORF Radio Österreich 1 and Radio Steiermark, complete this year’s edition of steirischer herbst.
