Annual program

Fierce disputes at the Forum Stadtpark in Graz

The Forum team: Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Sara T. Huber, Robin Klengel, Rivka Saltiel, Markus Waitschacher, Miriam Schmid, Markus Gönitzer (from left) and Victoria Fux (not pictured)(Bild: Forum Stadtpark)

Graz's Forum Stadtpark will be transformed into a Hall of Beef in 2024. True to the motto, no confrontation will be shied away from, our culture of argument will be questioned and the need for harmony will be cold-heartedly thrown overboard. It all kicks off on April 11 with the first Streitkunstpreis.

"We want to get down to the nitty-gritty this year," says Miriam Schmid, who is the artistic director of the Forum Stadtpark together with Robin Klengel and Markus Gönitzer. Together with the program forum - Victoria Fux, Sara T. Huber, Rivka Saltiel, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Markus Waitschacher and Clara Wildberger - exciting contributions to this year's general theme of "Controversy" have been developed.

We're getting down to brass tacks, but we don't want a fight for the sake of a fight

Miriam Schmid, Forum Stadtpark

"Of course we don't want to argue for the sake of arguing," the Leading Team agrees, "but there are hardly any places left where an argument can be settled in a good way." We experience the opposite of this often enough - on social media, but also politically, where an argument can quickly overshadow important issues.

Dispute strategies in all areas
So the Forum team set out in a wide variety of formats to explore strategies of dispute and find out why, especially in the feminist context, the divisive is repeatedly placed before the common. At the official opening on April 13, there will be a "Dispute Announcement". In a mini-workshop in the afternoon, you can take advantage of argumentation training against regulars' table slogans (note: only a few places available). This will be followed by a discussion with Ines Schwerdtner and Mariá do Mar Castro Varela and in the evening there will be concerts by the controversial feminist duo Siska from Poland and the no less feisty formation Mermaids and Seafruit from Vienna.

Controversial prize
A few days earlier, on April 11, the first major controversial art prize awaits: three artists exhibit their works, which are immediately judged by a jury and the public, following the example of the Bachmann Prize. Here, too, controversy is inevitable!

Protest at the Rösselmühle(Bild: Fanny Gasser)

At "Stadt streiten" on April 19 and May 11, the focus will be on controversial points of urban planning based on the Rösselmühle and the "Rettet die Mur" platform and between April 24 and May 8, the focus will be on the dispute over the right memory, including the exhibition "Der weibliche Name des Widerstands" (The Female Name of Resistance) or feminist-partisan choral interventions across the city.

Strong program
Early summer brings an exhibition by the Dtafa collective, where you can tune in to the little ringed plover, a bird species whose habitat is threatened by river regulation. And an extra edition of "manuskripte" on the subject of controversy, feminist wrestling, Ren Aldridge's "Resistance Quilt" as a manifesto against femicide and a tangible political show round off the contentious program.

Of course, there will also be Forum events outside of the annual motto this year, including numerous concerts and the "Spring 24" reading on April 4, where 24 authors will provide brief insights into their texts.