Wer hat Angst vorm steirischen herbst? Zu historischen Versuchen, das Festival zu zerstören (Who’s Afraid of steirischer herbst? On Historical Attempts to Destroy the Festival)

Exactly fifty years ago, the Aktionskomitee zur Rettung des steirischen herbst (Action Committee to Save steirischer herbst) was founded, one of several initiatives that sought to reorient the festival in line with bourgeois, antimodernist ideas about art, if not abolish it altogether. Herwig G. Höller talks to key figures from the festival’s history about attacks on steirischer herbst then and now.

Herwig G. Höller is a journalist, art critic, and Slavicist. He teaches at the University of Graz and works for the Austria Press Agency, focusing in particular on Ukraine and Russia. Höller is currently also a research fellow at steirischer herbst.

Christine Frisinghelli is a curator, art theorist, editor, and lecturer. She was the director of steirischer herbst from 1996 to 1999 and curated the festival’s symposium on photography between 1979 and 1997.

Herbert Nichols-Schweiger is a cultural manager and journalist. Between 1976 and 1988, he was press officer for steirischer herbst. From 1977, he also worked in the offices of Social Democrat state politicians and was managing director of the Steirische Gesellschaft für Kulturpolitik (Styrian Society for Cultural Policy).