A Summit on Art, Theory, Politics, and Civil Society

On the basis of a broad network of local cultural institutions— and strongly supported by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg—the establishment of a new annual “summit meeting” is planned for Stuttgart. It will be dedicated to the main sociopolitical lines of conflict and negotiate them in the spheres of the visual and performative arts, theory, and activism. The perspective here is expressly global.

The first edition of this new project will discuss alternative approaches to neoliberal financial capitalism that is based on algorithms, debt, and the myth of unlimited growth. How can such abstract structures be read, understood, and reinterpreted in face of their own contradictions? Which collective and individual forms of resistance are necessary in order to counteract the existing injustices and the mechanisms of exploitation and destruction? Which special potentials are harbored by poetry, imagination, and fiction for the concept of a different economy?

This first summit encompasses more than twenty lectures, performances, and music and film contributions from various academic, artistic, and activist contexts—regularly followed by workshops (including workshops for pupils). The main focus during the four days is on the exploration of diverse forms of articulation that go beyond the classical academic formats—and on an intense joint debate based on a wide spectrum of discourses.