Kathrin Röggla

Art is a plural noun. It never exists as a singular, nor could it be understood if it were in singular form – it is also essentially multilingual, connected; it seeks out bridges, sometimes to demolish them, but mostly to cross them, to listen to how things might be. The producers of literature, fine art, theatre, architecture, audio art and music as well as the media arts have always been travellers and been in contact with each other, because art as a communication system seeks out conversation and is in part made up of it. In addition to this: The perspective from outside is often life-saving; we need each other. But maintaining this requires the possibility of contact, translation, and travelling to each other. I won’t soon forget how exhilarating the first bilingual artist talk in a room was after the coronavirus lockdown. How did you get on in France? What did you do? What strategies have you been following? It was like a life insurance policy, because after all the home of artistic creation is, like Bohemia, a desert country near the sea.