- Anton Pelinka, Andreas Stadler, Todd Gitlin
Dear Friends of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York,
The year 2008 will possibly go down as a turning point in history. Against the backdrop of an emerging global economic crisis, ideological axioms are being questioned and overthrown - once again with the USA in the lead. Inconceivable sums of money, dwarfed only by the costs of the war in Iraq, are being spent to save the banking system as well as Wall and Main Street.
At the same time, we witness people like Paul Krugman winning the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Krugman, who had already won the Austrian Schumpeter Prize in 2006, has been one of the sharpest critics of the neoliberal economic ideology and calls for nothing less than a new New Deal, i.e. the intense involvement of governments, regions, and communities - if necessary by deficit spending. Schools, roads and transportation, communication and Internet, and healthcare are on the agenda. Let's make sure the cultural infrastructure will not be forgotten.
So John Maynard Keynes is back, and some say even the economic analysis of Karl Marx: the notion of "society," of the "public," is in again. November 4, 2008, stands a chance of overtrumping its older rival, September 11, 2001, in terms of historic relevance. Read the online summary of a discussion between Anton Pelinka and Todd Gitlin to find out what this can mean for European-American relations over the long term.
In our spring program, I would like to draw your attention to "Open Space," a new project that each year offers emerging Austrian artists living and working in the US the chance for a presentation at the Austrian Cultural Forum. The artists are selected by a jury and are given full autonomy and responsibility to decide how to present their works. This year's subject is "creative migration."
At the same time, we have invited Christian Eisenberger as guest artist to share his commentary on the theme of our exhibition The Artist as Troublemaker. His submissions turned out to be troublemaking indeed since they really hit taboos, including my own personal taboos. Being torn between disgust and admiration, I decided to show these works as a proof that our times are difficult and that the truth is worrisome. It's not without a certain irony that Eisenberger was recently arrested when walking through London wearing a clown suit - a similar fate that actionist Günter Brus experienced on his famous walk through Vienna back in 1965.
However, adopting and echoing the radiant optimism of last November and the beginning of the New Year, I hope that in 2009 you will once again take full advantage of our invitation to work with us at the Austrian Cultural Forum. And last but not least, I would also like to encourage you to come to our many different events and visit our library on the fourth floor.
Andreas Stadler
Director
