Ekaterina Degot
Ekaterina Degot, Graz, 5 April 2024
“I don’t believe in patriotism.”
As a native of Moscow, the present artistic director of the interdisciplinary festival “steirischer herbst” had actually viewed studying art history as a way to stay out of everyday politics and ideological debates. But her increasing focus on contemporary art ultimately led this curator and author to take up an increasingly critical position toward her government and oppose Putin’s regime. Paying a visit to Russia—to say nothing of returning there for good—currently seems unthinkable. So when she holds the steirischer herbst according to mottos like HORROR PATRIAE (2024) or NEVER AGAIN PEACE (2025), such mottos surely relate in part to her own practice and her life as a dissident. What does contemporaneity, what does idealism mean here? A conversation as an opportunity for an improvised lecture—the monologue of an exceptional intellectual with a gift for dark humor.
“I don’t believe in patriotism.”
As a native of Moscow, the present artistic director of the interdisciplinary festival “steirischer herbst” had actually viewed studying art history as a way to stay out of everyday politics and ideological debates. But her increasing focus on contemporary art ultimately led this curator and author to take up an increasingly critical position toward her government and oppose Putin’s regime. Paying a visit to Russia—to say nothing of returning there for good—currently seems unthinkable. So when she holds the steirischer herbst according to mottos like HORROR PATRIAE (2024) or NEVER AGAIN PEACE (2025), such mottos surely relate in part to her own practice and her life as a dissident. What does contemporaneity, what does idealism mean here? A conversation as an opportunity for an improvised lecture—the monologue of an exceptional intellectual with a gift for dark humor.