Festival opens

20 years of Elevate: “Democracy is a doing word”

Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk was connected live from Kiev(Bild: Christoph Hartner)

The 20th edition of the Elevate Festival opened in Graz on Wednesday with words of warning about the impending loss of democracy. The words came from the Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk and the Austrian Federal President Alexander van der Bellen.

"Freedom is a fragile commodity," said Oleksandra Matviichuk in her opening speech for the anniversary edition of the Graz Elevate Festival. She should know, because as a human rights lawyer in her native Ukraine, she has been living for years on a front where not only a war is being fought against the aggressor Russia, but also for the defense of democracy: "And it's not just about Russia. Iran, China and other authoritarian states are also supporting Putin in his war because they want to weaken democratic values."

"We have far more influence than we realize"
However, it is precisely these values that need to be defended all the more vehemently in the current time of crisis: "And each and every one of us can do this, because even as ordinary citizens we have far more influence than we realize," she says, citing her Ukrainian compatriots as an example: "Since the beginning of the war, many ordinary people have achieved extraordinary things. And we all have to do that - every day. It is we ourselves who determine our history and our future," she said. 

Alexander van der Bellen spoke at the opening of the festival at the Orpheum in Graz(Bild: Christoph Hartner)

The "invisible bond" of togetherness
Federal President Alexander van der Bellen also took the same line in his welcoming address at the Orpheum in Graz. He spoke of an "invisible bond" that holds us together as human beings, as a democratic and free society, and warned: "At the gates of Europe, there are autocrats who are in the process of severing this bond, but in our neighboring countries, too, they are already holding the scissors in their hands, curtailing the rights of the media and women. And here in Austria, too, the cornerstones of liberal democracy are being sawn away." Van der Bellen pleads not to take democracy for granted, but to actively work on it so that "the bond does not break".

"Democracy is a do-word"
This is precisely the aim of those responsible for Elevate, as Discourse curator Irina Nalis summed up at the opening: "Democracy is a do-word. We all have to do something to ensure that it continues to function." The festival has been providing impetus for this for 20 years and this is exactly what those responsible are also planning for this year's anniversary edition - at various venues in Graz until Sunday.