Afterwards: “Writing against fear – Robert Schindel in portrait” and Schindel film adaptation “Gebürtig” – on March 25th from 10:30 p.m., ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – The “kulturMontag” presented by Peter Schneeberger on March 25, 2024 at 10:30 p.m. on ORF 2 is dedicated to the work of the Belgian painter James Ensor, whose 75th death anniversary will be celebrated with numerous exhibitions and celebrations this year. The program also sums up the directorship of the outgoing Burgtheater director Martin Kušej, whose farewell play “Orpheus descends” premieres on March 23rd. The magazine also deals, among other things, with the role of the just-launched Leipzig Book Fair as a reflection of social and political debates. Afterwards, the new documentary “Writing against Fear – Robert Schindel in Portrait” (11.30 p.m.) is on the program to mark the poet and author’s 80th birthday.
Master of Masks – 75th anniversary of the death of the Belgian painter James Ensor
He wanted to unmask the hypocritical, ugly, malicious and devious, to hold up a mirror to fin de siècle society. Similar to his Dutch colleague Vincent van Gogh, the Belgian James Ensor, whose pictures fell outside the scope of established salon painting at the end of the 19th century, was an outsider – misunderstood and isolated. But with his macabre imagery he made it into the establishment, was knighted a baron by King Albert I, and was courted by prominent artists, writers and scientists such as Emil Nolde, Stefan Zweig and Albert Einstein. Stylistically, James Ensor can hardly be classified, as his works skilfully oscillate between expressionism, surrealism and symbolism. The use of fantastic elements such as masks is of central importance in his work, so much so that he was often referred to as the “painter of masks”. Who was this man who even got a state funeral 75 years ago? The Belgian city of Ostend, where Ensor was born in 1860, lived continuously except for a short stay in Brussels and died in 1949, celebrates its most famous son extensively. After various exhibitions and celebrations in the North Sea seaside resort in the first months of the anniversary year, Antwerp is taking over the Ensor recognition.
The controversial theater maker – Martin Kušej’s farewell to the Burgtheater
Five years ago, Carinthian-born Slovenian Martin Kušej took over as artistic director of Vienna’s Burgtheater. The anticipation and expectations were great. He wanted to present a European theater; it should be extremely controversial, contemporary and international. But then Corona came and the theater scene was shut down for months. A challenge for the renowned house on the ring, which has decided against a streaming offer during this time. Kušej had to face severe criticism from the media for this. Artistically, he was unable to implement many of his plans; he hoped for an extension of his contract for another five years, but that didn’t happen. From autumn 2024, the Swiss theater maker Stefan Bachmann will take over the Vienna Burgtheater. Martin Kušej is ending his last season, which he set under the programmatic motto “Wake up before it gets dark” as a clear signal against the political shift to the right, xenophobia and impending dangers for democratic systems, with his production of Tennessee Williams’ play “Orpheus descends” – a political drama about a society characterized by xenophobia. The “kulturMontag” sums up the directorship of a controversial theater man and Peter Schneeberger asks the outgoing director for an interview.
The rise of the right – politics as reflected in the Leipzig Book Fair
The Leipzig Book Fair is currently transforming the city in Saxony into a gigantic reading stage again. The event, which is considered the most important German literary show after Frankfurt, has always seen itself as a center of living democracy. Also under Neo-Director Astrid Böhmisch, who sees issues such as freedom, democracy and diversity as values that need to be fought for again and again. Last but not least, book fairs are a reflection of social debates: the fact that democracies around the world will be faced with important electoral decisions in 2024 will also be a central topic in Leipzig. Especially since state elections are also scheduled in Saxony in the fall; the last election in 2019 was dominated by high gains for the AfD. It is widely known that right-wing populism and right-wing extremism find fertile ground, especially in eastern Germany. “kulturMontag” tries to find out why this is the case with, among others, the Israeli-German philosopher Omri Boehm and the German-American author and political scientist Yascha Mounk. In his current book, the renowned Harvard political scientist examines the decay of democracy and reveals the causes and mechanisms that are eroding Western liberal constitutional states. The role of the Leipzig Book Fair in this difficult political situation is discussed in particular.
Documentary “Writing against fear – portrait of Robert Schindel” (11:30 p.m.)
Robert Schindel often likes to describe himself as a “Viennese-Jewish writer”: Vienna, especially Leopoldstadt, is a central place for him to write and live. Vienna, the city where he survived in hiding as the child of communist and deported parents. The film portrait of the important Austrian author begins in his apartment in the second district, where he has lived for decades. His family history can be traced on the walls; last but not least, there are photographs of his mother, who survived Auschwitz and then found her son again in Vienna – his father was murdered in Dachau. Robert Schindel writes about the mother: “The young woman was not only subhuman, she also remained a communist.” So Robert Schindel goes through the children’s and youth organizations of the Communist Party, writes a letter to the ailing Stalin as a primary school child, and much later, after he was also a Maoist, he finally decides to become a renegade.
Directors Katja Gasser and Imogena Doderer go on a search for clues with Robert Schindel: They visit, among other things, the Jesuit meadow, where people shouted “Hoppauf, Herr Jud!” at him, who enjoyed playing football well as a child, and pay a visit to his elementary school , in which he had a “Nazi elementary school teacher” “who loved to hit fingertips with a ruler.” Another stop is the Café Hawelka, which Schindel, who studied different things, described as his “real university”.
The film tries to show how closely literature and life interact, how little one can be separated from the other and how much one has to be distinguished from the other. The author repeatedly emphasizes that fear and writing are closely intertwined in Robert Schindel’s case, as in his first novel “Gebürtig”, published in 1992. Without the fear that is inextricably linked to the “great Jewish pain” (Heinrich Heine), Schindel would probably not have become a writer. The fact that he became one is a blessing for German-language literature – the documentary tells the story of this happiness, which is rooted in a great misfortune.