Postwar Europe was rebuilt on the foundation of antifascist ideals. Today, far right parties are gaining a growing following and are becoming a point of reference for people who do not accept the existing social order, both in Europe and the United States of America. Why is antifascism losing its emancipation and mobilisation potential? Have we stopped fearing the concepts that led to the disasters of two world wars? On the other hand, is it justified to compare the modern-day rightists to fascists? Recently, even the U.S. president Donald Trump has been called a fascist or a Nazi, as well as Marine Le Pen in France and Viktor Orbán in Hungary, whilst the adjective “fascist” is also used to describe the Islamic State. Is the “fascist turn” in politics mere rhetoric? What role does populism play in this reflection? And why is only right-wing populism demonised while there is no mention of left-wing populism?
Moderator: Jacek Żakowski
THE BALKANS PLATFORM Meetings at Liberty Square
As always, the Malta artistic programme is accompanied by the Forum, a series of discussions on the festival theme. This year the meetings are focused on the correlation between Balkan and Polish history, and on the Balkan experience compared to the current situations in Poland, Europe and worldwide. The Balkans are seen as a platform for knowledge and reflection on ourselves and on the reality we live in. The guests are political scientists, psychiatrists and anthropologists, as well as Slavicists, philosophers, writers and documentary filmmakers.Boris Buden (b. 1958) is a philosopher, cultural theorist, translator and publicist. He comes from Zagreb, where he studied philosophy. He received a PhD from the Humboldt University in Berlin. In the 1990s, he was a peace activist. He is a member of the European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies in Vienna. His writing focuses on philosophy, politics, linguistics, post-communist conditioning and art critique. He has translated the majority of Sigmund Freud's works into Serbo-Croatian. Boris Buden is currently a visiting professor at the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Weimar. In Poland, his book, Zone des Übergangs: Vom Ende des Postkommunismus, was published by Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej.
Iwona Kurz (b. 1972) is a historian of modern Polish culture, a visual culture researcher, and film theorist. Since 2016, she has been the director of the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw. She is the author of the book Twarze w tłumie. Wizerunki bohaterów wyobraźni zbiorowej w kulturze polskiej 1955–1969 (nominated for the Nike Award in 2005), and the co-author of Obyczaje polskie, Wiek XX w krótkich hasłach and Ślady Holokaustu w imaginarium kultury polskiej. Iwona Kurz contributes to the magazines Didaskalia, Kino and Dwutygodnik, and is an editor of the online magazine Widok. Teorie i praktyki kultury wizualnej (pismowidok.org).
Przemysław Wielgosz (b. 1969) is a journalist and publicist, editor-in-chief of the Polish edition of the magazine Le Monde diplomatique and of the book series published by Biblioteka Le Monde diplomatique and Biblioteka alternatyw ekonomicznych. His texts have featured in various magazines, for instance Nowy Tygodnik Popularny, Wiadomości Kulturalne, Przegląd and Przekrój. Przemysław Wielgosz has written the book Opium globalizacji, and has edited or co-authored many other books, including Koniec Europy jaką znamy, Futuryzm miast przemysłowych, Na okrągło 1989-2009 and Afirmacja czy kontestacja? Dylemat społeczeństwa kapitalistycznego w kryzysie.
PROGRAM:
16.06, 17:00 “THE VICAR BLAMES THE LORD, AND THE LORD BLAMES THE VICAR, WHILE WE SIMPLES SUFFER HARDSHIP ON EVERY SIDE.” THE DISCUSSION BETWEEN A LORD, A VILLAGE MAYOR AND A VICAR, CONTINUED: Adam Michnik
17.06, 13:00 MEETING WITH THE 2017 IDIOM CURATORS: Oliver Frljić, Goran Injac
18.06, 17:00 THE SHAME AND PRIDE OF EASTERN EUROPE: Konstanty Gebert, Magdalena Koch, Joanna Tokarska-Bakir
19.06, 17:00 MIGRANT OR REFUGEE?: Draginja Nadażdin, Kalina Czwarnóg, Roman Wieruszewski
20.06, 17:00 COMMON LITERATURE. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?: Krzysztof Varga, Stanisław Bereś, Dorota Cirlić-Mentzel
21.06, 17:00 WHAT IS AGGRESSION?: Bogdan de Barbaro
22.06, 17:00 STATE / NATION / CITIZEN: Sławomir Sierakowski, Rafał Matyja, Krzysztof Podemski
23.06, 17:00 JHOW TO BE A WITNESS. ABOUT THE WORK OF A DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Agnieszka Arnold
24.06, 17:00 Neo-fascism and its limits: Boris Buden, Dragan Markovina, Przemysław Wielgosz