Dear friends of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York,
Welcome to the new and improved 'transforum’. The magazine that you have come to know and depend on for information about the events of the upcoming season is currently in a period of transition. We came to the conclusion that what was missing on our website was a way for those friends of our institution that cannot make it to our events in person to participate in the many great cultural events that take place here. So we decided to create a section devoted to documenting our events with articles, videos, images, and audio recordings. In other words: we have gone multimedia! So please bear with us while we make the move to a new kind of transforum, where you can take part in the events you missed, and re-visit the ones you loved.
"Moving Sounds"
Our fall season has started with a very successful second edition of the "Moving Sounds" festival, an annual meeting of composers, electronic musicians, music theorists and managers, presenting and discussing contemporary music and the developments it is taking in the new digital era. I invite you to read some reviews and listen to tracks of the concerts here.
"The Balkans begin in Vienna"
After our extremely successful exhibit "NineteenEightyFour" we are thrilled to present ”Serbia – Frequently Asked Questions", a show featuring 19 international artists who reflect on two decades of Yugoslav drama with a special focus on Serbia. You can browse some of the artwork here, get updates on discussions, satellite events presented by other New York institutions such as the Romanian Cultural Institute (who will be presenting dramatist Bilijana Srblianovic), the Harriman Institute for International Studies at Columbia University (which will convene a conference with the Secretary General of the Austrian Ministery of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Johannes Kyrle and the High Representaive to Bosnia Hercegovina Dr. Valentin Inzko), the Czech Center´s film series on Serbia, as well as the Open Society Institute. Serbia – Frequently Asked Questions also has its own Facebook site which we are sure you will like.
But why are we Austrians showing Yugoslav art? The answer is much easier than you think: It was Prince von Metternich who said that "the Balkans begin at the Rennweg", a Viennese boulevard which starts in the city center and heads south-east. Austria was severely exposed to the Yugoslav wars, has sheltered many hundred thousand refugees over the years, and has been active in helping to resolve the conflict on all levels - including on the level of artistic reflection. Austria is also proactively promoting the new "Danube Strategy" created by the European Union to enhance cooperation, neighborly relations and development in all Danube states from Bavaria to Bulgaria and the Ukraine.
Leon Botstein about Gustav Mahler
Musically speaking, this year focuses on the centenary of Gustav Mahler. Maestro Leon Botstein authored a marvellous text summarizing the rise of Mahler in the US and around the world until today. We will also present our fall Jazz Festival, this time in cooperation with Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Lincoln Center.
I am also proud to announce the succesful start of a new Sunday series of concerts in cooperation with the Argento Ensemble, a superb New York based chamber formation that has become somewhat of an “orchestra in residence” of the Austrian Cultural Forum. "Lunar Movements" presents contemporary music revolving around Schönberg´s Pierrot Lunnaire and each concert is repeated up to four times. This is rare in contemporary music and a huge chance for musicophiles to come time and again to indulge in some of the most daring and thrilling musical experiments.
Thomas Bernhard and Gerhard Roth
Connoisseurs of Thomas Berhard will be excited to learn that we are supporting an English language production of his drama "Ritter, Dene, Voss" at LaMama Theater in New York, at a time when his most scandalous and influential piece, "Heldenplatz", is being restaged at the Vienna Josefstadt Theater. We will also present an evening with eminent Austrian writer Gerhard Roth, award our annual Translation Prize, and continue our rewarding collaboration with Anthology Film Archives.
A Minister of Defense rethinks international peace
Together with our partners Slought Foundation and the International Peace Institute, we will engage in a re-reading of Immanuel Kant’s famous text "Perpetual Peace". Written in 1795, six years after the French revolution in Koenigsberg, it has become the intellectual foundation of contemporary international law. Politicians and scholars from all over the world will try to rethink his contribution to peace and reformulate some of his ideas and demands towards the goal of creating a safer and more just world. We are excited that the Austrian Defense Minister, Mr. Norbert Darabos, himself a historian, and Ms. Gudrun Harrer, one of the most respected experts on the Middle East and Iraq will participate in the project.
Last but not least, I am happy to announce three new collaborators at the ACFNY. Ms. Christa Marchardt will head the director’s office, Ms. Susanne Kirchgasser will take over our library and reservations system and Ms. Natascha Boojar will head the visual arts department.
I hope you will come and meet us here at the ACFNY in person, browse through our website or follow us on Facebook or Twitter!
Yours warmly
Andreas Stadler, September 2010
