8.5.: May 8, 2025 is the 80th anniversary of the liberation from National Socialism. This day marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and Nazi rule in Austria.
To ensure that this form of inhuman government is never again possible, we must all be on our guard against today’s “right-wing” movement!
Since February 2025, the Styrian Cultural Board of Trustees has included members who openly represent ideological positions that are at odds with an open and inclusive cultural landscape.
Franz Koiner, member of the Styrian Cultural Board of Trustees, is head of marketing at Stocker and Ares Verlag. According to the Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), numerous works published by Ares can be “attributed to right-wing extremist journalism”.
Over 20 representatives of the independent theaters protested in the form of a vigil against this appointment to the Kulturkuratorium because it represents a danger to the freedom and independence of the arts in Styria!
There were: Theater im Bahnhof, Mezzanin-Theater,Theater am Lend, uniT, Theater im Keller, InterACT, Verein VLG-Christine Teichmann, PPP-Planetenpartyprinzip, Pennyless Players, Tanz Graz, SubsTanz, TanzComp.Ella, TaO!, Rabtaldirndln, Das andere Theater, Accomplices, Ninja Reichert, KRA, and others.
Natascha Grasser / MEZZANIN Theater performed a text on May 8th against the right at the end.