On Friday, 13 September 2024, Chemnitz sociologist Dr Ulf Bohmann will open the "Arts of Democracy" conference in Bodø, this year's European Capital of Culture in Norway. In his keynote speech "Democracy under pressure", delivered just two weeks after the state elections in Saxony, he will shed light on how Chemnitz, as European Capital of Culture 2025, is facing the challenge of counteracting this development by promoting art and culture in the face of increasingly normalised right-wing radicalism.
The conference is part of the multi-day festival "Arts of Democracy", which will take place from 10 to 14 September 2024 in Bodø, the Northern Norwegian European Capital of Culture 2024. Participants from various countries, including former and future European Capitals of Culture, will provide a variety of perspectives on the social challenges currently facing Europe. The focus will be on the question of what joint efforts are needed to promote and protect freedom of expression and artistic freedom worldwide.
Chemnitz will be represented at this cultural-political festival by Dr Ulf Bohmann, among others. The deputy professor of sociological theories at Chemnitz University of Technology published the study "Risikodemokratie Chemnitz zwischen rechtsradikalem Brennpunkt und europäischer Kulturhauptstadt" together with Jenni Brichzin and Henning Laux in 2022. "In 2018, the city of Chemnitz was the scene of one of the largest right-wing extremist riots in post-war Germany. Remarkably, the city's bid to become European Capital of Culture 2025 was written as a comprehensive response to these events in 2018," says Dr Ulf Bohmann. The "European Workshop for Culture and Democracy" programme line brings together projects for Chemnitz 2025 that focus on participation and involvement.
The European Capitals of Culture should each address a European challenge in their programmes. The sustainable and European-oriented large-scale projects therefore go far beyond an annual calendar of cultural events. Exchange and encounters between the respective Capitals of Culture are a central component of the title, which the European Commission has been awarding to two cities or regions per year since 1985.
Strong network of European Capitals of Culture
Together with the city of Chemnitz and the surrounding 38 municipalities from the region (Central Saxony, Erzgebirge, Zwickauer Land), the Slovenian-Italian city of Nova Goricia / Gorizia will also be the European Capital of Culture in 2025. Close cooperation and joint projects will be part of the respective programmes.
In addition to Bodø, Bad Ischl Salzkammergut also holds the title this year. The "European Peace Ride", a Chemnitz 2025 project, will also start there on 13 September, with over 200 cycling enthusiasts from six nations cycling together from Austria via the Czech Republic in three one-day stages over 580 kilometres and 6100 metres of altitude from Bad Ischl to Chemnitz.
The tradition of European Capitals of Culture celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2025. The first city to hold this title, which is awarded by the European Commission, was Athens in 1985.
Further information:
Contribution to the opening lecture at Bodø 2024: bodo2024.no/nyheter/arts-of-democracy-konferansen
About Dr Ulf Bohmann: tu-chemnitz.de/hsw/sociology/institute/profiles/ulbo/
About Bodø 2024: bodo2024.no
Arts of Democracy festival: Arts of Democracy - bodo2024.no
