15.04.2024
With a strong voice for a democratic Europe
From 25-26 March, 41 members from 17 countries of the European Alliance of Academies met at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin on Pariser Platz.
In the face of multiple crises on the continent, Academy President Jeanine Meerapfel recalled the origins of the European idea: „Europe was and is a utopian project. Numerous European states joined forces, overcame former enmities and renounced part of their sovereignty in order to create the European Union peace project. Even today, many of us dream of Europe as an open continent. And we are not just dreaming: three and a half years ago, we founded the European Alliance of Academies to work together for the freedom of art and the creation of a democratic Europe.“
In the run-up to the European elections, which will take place in Europe from 6-9 June, the members of the European Alliance of Academies decided to publish an election appeal to all Europeans: Diversity, respect and solidarity are the core elements of vibrant democracies. The European Alliance of Academies calls on European citizens to fulfil their responsibility to protect these values by exercising their right to vote.
Read the full call to vote here
The diverse programme offered pupils, young artists, civil society actors, climate experts and members of the Academy of Arts the opportunity to contribute their ideas about Europe and democracy. Contacts already established with artists and cultural professionals from Hungary and Poland were deepened. New structures and projects of the transnational network were discussed in internal consultations. The fight against right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism and the defence of artistic freedom are the focal points to which the Alliance members would like to continue to dedicate themselves.
Ferenc Czinki, President of the Hungarian Writers‘ Association Szépírók Társásagá, which has been excluded from any state funding since 2024, confirmed the solidarity effect of the alliance: „You have supported us, you have given us ideas and courage. Your solidarity has saved us through difficult times.“
Keynote speaker Meron Mendel summarised in his speach at the opening evening: There is nothing left for us but to believe in people. And believing in people is also believing in art. Art has a humanistic mission in the deepest sense of the word. This is precisely why art is under threat.
Hungarian Film director István Szabó commented in his input on the second conference day: What should a film be about? About today’s reality, because we can only improve it by confronting it. We also want to preserve European culture, as well as the desire to be free, which is what Europe stands for.
At Café Climate, Academy members Ulrike Draesner, A. L. Kennedy, Esther Kinsky, Dagmara Kraus, Ursula Krechel and Cécile Wajsbrot read specially written texts for the Atlas of Change, dealing with the impacts of climate change on their lives. Afterwards, the audience had the opportunity to share their perspectives and discuss with the artists and invited climate experts Dagmar Haase, Claudia Kemfert, Damien Bright, Eckhard Roelcke and Marco Clausen about important aspects like climate justice & civil resistance, transformation strategies, urban solutions and local activism – important impulses how to become active against climate change as individual in our society.
Nine artists from across Europe – all associated to institutions of the European Alliance of Academies engaged with poems by a young generation of Hungarian poets, all members of the Szépírók Társasága, and created multidisciplinary artworks that respond, comment and reflect on the social and political reality of today’s life in Hungary. Yese Astarloa, Matei Bejenaru, Lucija Bogunović, Sayaka Fujio, Paul Michels, Mariano Ortega, Dimitrina Popova and Laura Stojkoski presented their artistic project published on LOOM – Interweaving the Arts in Europe
In their video messages, Minister of State for Culture and the Media Claudia Roth and UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights Alexandra Xanthaki emphasised the importance of the European alliance and assured the European Alliance of Academies that it would be able to continue its work.
Photos by Reinhardt & Sommer