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New Kunstfest Leadership Satisfied with Festival's Start

New Kunstfest Leadership Satisfied with Festival's Start
A good start for this year's Weimar Art Festival. (File photo) / Photo: Jan Woitas/dpa
From: DieSachsen News
The Kunstfest Weimar is a major festival for contemporary art. A female duo has taken the reins this year. Here's what to expect in the coming days.

Acrobats in the park along the Ilm and music with tuned-up cars: The first few days of the Weimar Arts Festival set the tone and, according to Katharina Germo, were well attended—even if the cool, at times rainy weather “didn’t quite create that classic summer festival vibe.” Nevertheless, many people came. “I’m satisfied with the start,” Germo said in response to a dpa inquiry. She said she had received very positive feedback from visitors.

Together with Juliane Hahn, she took over the direction of the festival this year, which is considered one of the most important festivals for contemporary arts, not only in eastern Germany. 

Tickets for international contemporary dance are in very high demand. Under the title “Ausbrechen” (“Break Out”), a three-part dance evening will be held on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. 

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“We’re hoping for secure core funding”

The program also features current theater productions, including the documentary theater piece “96 Percent” by Greek director Prodromos Tsinikoris at the end of August. It deals with the near-total annihilation of the Jewish community in the Greek city of Thessaloniki during the German occupation in World War II. Germo described the new festival center at the Lichthauskino—which features smaller-scale cultural events for which no tickets need to be purchased—as an experiment. 

According to the new leadership duo, they are aiming to secure a funding agreement in the future with the state of Thuringia, which has been supporting the festival for many years in collaboration with the city of Weimar. This year, the situation was challenging because the exact amount of funding wasn’t determined until May. “We’re hoping for secure core funding,” Germo said.

Around 100 events are on the festival’s program through September 6. These include art exhibitions, such as a show about contract workers from Mozambique in the GDR. A group exhibition at the Eigenheim Gallery explores humor as an artistic tool and as a weapon against authority. In 2025, the last year under the artistic direction of Rolf C. Hemke, the festival attracted around 40,000 visitors.

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