A Meditation on Basic Democratic Values in Times of Political and Economic Insecurity
After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the victory parade of democracy seemed unstoppable. 20 years later, the initial euphoria of a world-historical break-through of basic democratic thinking has given way to great disillusionment. Globalization, rising unemployment, retrenchment in social programs, marginalization of large societal groups and the bank and sovereign debt crisis of 2008: all this has led to shrinking trust in democracy and its institutions.
In 1932, the Austrian-Jewish jurist Hans Kelsen observed, in regard to the developments in the Weimar Republic: "Democracy is that form of government which least resists its adversaries. It seems to be its tragic fate that it must nurse even its worst enemy on its own breast." In exile in the U.S., he pointedly formulated the dilemma of democracy: "Democracy cannot defend itself by abandoning itself."
Especially in these times of political and economic uncertainty, it seems important to remind ourselves of the great achievement democracy is, and that it is worth fighting for. We can succeed in doing so by resorting to texts of authors and thinkers who, in their time, fought against undermining tendencies of dissolution and the erosion of the state by totalitarian forces. The cry for simple solutions, the longing for a strong man who liberates us from the complex trap of a globalized world, is growing louder. The program Defending Democracy wants to take a stand against that.
Narrator: Gregorij H. von Leïtis
Concept and introductory talk: Michael Lahr
The ACF Washington was delighted to welcome Gregorij H. von Leïtis and Michael Lahr from the NY based non-profit organization Elysium - Between Two Continents/The Lahr von Leitis Academy & Archive back again in DC, this time presenting their program Defending Democracy. A Meditation on Basic Democratic Values in Times of Political and Economic Insecurity, a literary collage with texts by Robert F. Kennedy, Hermynia zur Mühlen, Erich Mühsam, Alfred Polgar, Carl von Ossietzky, Joseph Roth, Hans Sahl, Kurt Tucholsky, Lasantha Wikrematunge, and others.
When: Monday, February 24, 2020 | 7:00 pm
Where: Austrian Cultural Forum Washington/Embassy of Austria
3524 International Court, NW, Washington, DC 20008
Ticket: Free admission, registration obligatory
Parking on International Court is available after 6:30 pm (for the duration of the event) or on 36th Street; access to the Embassy through the park behind the building.
A registration is not a guarantee of a seat as these are assigned on a first-come first-served basis. Doors close at event start-time.
BIOGRAPHIES OF THE PERFORMERS
GREGORIJ H. VON LEÏTIS
Photo | (c) Letizia Mariotti
Gregorij H. von Leïtis, Founding Artistic Director of Elysium, has been working as a director at various theatres in Europe and the US for 50 years. In 1985 he received the New York Theater Club Prize for his direction of Bertolt Brecht's “The Jewish Wife”. In 2003, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 2016 he received the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art.
In 1983, he founded the Elysium Theater Company in New York, which he headed as Artistic Director till 1990, when he was called to be the Intendant (Artistic Director) of the Landestheater Mecklenburg in Germany. Since 1993 he has been again Artistic Director of “Elysium - between two continents”. In 1985, Gregorij von Leïtis founded the Erwin Piscator Award Society, which annually confers the Erwin Piscator Award. Since 1987, he has been committed to the integration of marginal social groups by way of theater. With the Elysium Theater Company he created the program “Theater for the Homeless”. Since 1992 Gregorij von Leïtis had been active as guest director, first at the State Theater in Linz, later also at the State Theater in Bregenz. In 1998 he produced Kafka's “A Report to an Academy” at London's Bloomsbury Theater, Ullman's opera “The Emperor of Atlantis” at the Guggenheim Museum and at the Miller Theater in New York, as well as the Italian premiere of Krenek's chamber opera “What Price Confidence”. In 1997, he recited the New York premiere of “The Lay of Love and Death of the Cornet Christoph Rilke”, one of the last works which the composer Viktor Ullmann was able to finish in the ghetto and concentration camp Theresienstadt, before he was deported to Auschwitz in October 1944 and murdered there. Since then, he has performed this composition for speaker and piano internationally in more than 30 cities.
With Michael Lahr, he founded The Lahr von Leïtis Academy & Archive in 1995, whose president he is.
MICHAEL LAHR
Photo | (c) Letizia Mariotti
Michael Lahr studied philosophy and adult education at the College of Philosophy in Munich and at the Jesuit University Centre Sevres in Paris. He is author and editor of the book “The Erwin Piscator Award”, and a co-author of the volume of essays “Bilder des Menschen” (Images of Man). As a specialist in Erwin Piscator, the founder of the political and epic theater, he curated the exhibit “Erwin Piscator: Political Theater in Exile”, which so far has been seen in Bernried, New York, Catania, Salzburg, and Munich.
As the program director of Elysium he has unearthed numerous works by artists who had to flee their home country under the pressure of the Nazi regime, or who were murdered. Many of these compositions were performed for the first time in concerts in Europe and the U.S. He gives introductory lectures for all Elysium programs. At the same time, he lectures regularly on questions of general social and political significance at various universities in Europe and the US.
Michael Lahr is the Executive Director of The Lahr von Leitis Academy & Archive, founded in 1995, which holds materials of artists such as Erwin and Maria Ley Piscator, Egon Lustgarten, Anna Moffo, Alice Herz-Sommer and others. He is also the Chairman of the Erwin Piscator Award Society and the editor of The Bridge Journal.
ELYSIUM – BETWEEN TWO CONTINENTS
Since the founding in New York City in 1983, Elysium - Between Two Continents has established itself as a vital force at the intersection of American and European cultures, fostering artistic and creative dialogue and mutual friendship between the United States of America and Europe. Fighting against discrimination, racism and Antisemitism by means of art are at the heart of Elysium’s mission. Elysium’s special concern has been to unearth and present works of artists exiled and persecuted by the fascist regimes of the mid twentieth century.
THE LAHR VON LEITIS ACADEMY & ARCHIVE
Art and education without borders. Learning and the transfer of knowledge as efficient tools to fight against ignorance, discrimination, and hatred. Familiarizing the young generation with the treasures of exiled art, to help them create a meaningful future that incorporates the lessons learned from history.
www.elysiumbtc.org
www.lahrvonleitisacademy.eu
www.facebook.com/lvlaa