Performance festival “Risk and Resilience”
Concepts of resilience – i.e. the ability to grow stronger in times of crises- were already in high demand before the corona pandemic. What is often ignored, however, is that the conditions for this resilience vary greatly depending on one’s social position. In times of increasing attacks on the equality and integrity of women and minorities, the concept of resilience has become a fighting term in queerfeminist, anti-racist and other activist encounters. It is not least in this way that resistant strategies are increasingly finding their way into the arts.
However, in the current time of crisis, there is also growing scepticism towards demands for personal stability/resilience, as they are often geared towards increased performance and flexibility and thus follow neoliberal market logics. This ignores the capacities and needs of all those who are structurally disadvantaged in our society. So, the question arises as to whether exhaustion and transparent handling of one’s own vulnerability are more appropriate ways of dealing with the current societal demands and threats – and above all of initiating change.
In performances, installations, walks, online workshops and lectures, the festival’s artists negotiate the risky connections between resilience and vulnerability. The times of the pandemic have undoubtedly made them the topics of the hour and have changed the festival since its conception last autumn. Unfortunately, some of the international guest performances that were originally planned cannot take place due to the occasion – new, local and digital formats have been created in their place.
