"Unconscious": Festival in Lusatia focuses on the "we"

The Lusatia Festival faces a particular challenge, according to director Daniel Kühnel: the culturally diverse region can hardly be reduced to a common denominator. "Lusatia is a very large and very heterogeneous region. It would be almost overconfident to believe that you could formulate one artistic idea in which all the people living there could find themselves reflected," he said before the start of the festival (August 24 to September 14).

This year's motto is "unsbewusst", according to Kühnel. "It's about the big 'we', about the world in which many people live. If we don't have the community of people, the individual can't make an impact." We should always be aware of this. The motto ties in with the idea of togetherness in structural change: "We are moving towards a new world together and shaping it."

Art in the here and now

Lusatia was also recently in the headlines due to an incendiary letter from the mayor of Spremberg, Christine Herntier, against the rise of right-wing extremism. "Right-wing extremism is by no means only an issue in Lusatia," emphasized Kühnel. It is not the festival's task to reflect on the topic or to set an example. "On the other hand, our production of Othello in Weißwasser, for example, shows that we are not ignoring the issue." Art always takes place in the here and now and cannot escape the issues of the present.

The Lausitz Festival is taking place for the sixth time this year at 23 venues in 13 cities. The organizers are expecting around 10,000 guests.