Freedom and function of art

Today, back then, tomorrow and looking back on the future
A dispute instigated by the HfM Karlsruhe

It is not only in Germany that certainties are currently being lost that until recently seemed self-evident to many: that democracy is the best form of government, that human dignity is inviolable and that a society without solidarity is unthinkable – and, last but not least, that art must be free and not bound to any specific attitude or function.
Surprisingly, the questioning of the freedom and non-functionality of art seems to be initiated and advocated not least by artists themselves. But why? Where could this attitude lead, what could it result in? How was it in the past? And what could people of later generations say about the freedom and function of art when looking back on our future? Is or was the idea of freedom, which until yesterday still seemed to be the consensus, perhaps only a temporary phase, a brief episode in the history of art?

Students and teachers from the HfM Karlsruhe, the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe, the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, the Karlsruhe University of Education, the KIT and the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music Berlin will address these questions by encountering each other on an open stage with imagination and arguments, while the audience is invited to get involved, join in the discussion, taking sides and staking out a position. Markus Hechtle

Duel or Duet by Jörg Mainka & Richard David Precht
Hanns Eisler Academy of Music Berlin
Matthias Bruhn (Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design)
Vokal Oktett Karlsruhe
Julika Hing Moderation
Choir of the Karlsruhe University of Music
Students of the Karlsruhe University of Music

In his latest book, Richard David Precht answers the question of the role of art as a provocateur and enfant terrible in liberal societies: ‘Such art, however, is hardly possible anymore. For how can it provoke when someone always feels offended, everywhere?’ Jörg Mainka turns his attention and ear to violations of artistic norms and conventions by composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, Webern and, last but not least, Hanns Eisler.