Calendar

Venue:
HGB ceremony hall
Wächterstraße 11
04107 Leipzig

In times of social change, right-wing tendencies and right-wing conservative actors are gaining influence in the cultural scene. In doing so, they deliberately instrumentalise artistic freedom and the concept of artistic autonomy for their own purposes. Under the guise of freedom, "apolitical", traditional and right-wing approaches are often presented as legitimate and harmless. The art historian Wolfgang Ullrich has analysed this phenomenon in depth in his works Die Kunst nach dem Ende ihrer Autonomie and Feindbild werden. He shows how the concept of art autonomy has developed from an originally emancipatory ideal into a defence mechanism against social change and cultural plurality. This paradox manifests itself in right-wing culturalisms that actively reject or delegitimise diversity and plurality as soon as they are perceived as "politically motivated".

In the discussion, the artist Rahel grote Lambers will first give an insight into her artistic practice, which deals with conservative and right-wing tendencies in society. She and Wolfgang Ulrich will then discuss the topic of artistic autonomy and the aesthetic strategies of the New Right - in particular their systematic instrumentalisation of images to promote culturally conservative and right-wing thinking.