Panel

Almost everything in our world is in flux right now: Borders are being torn down, certainties are eroding and safeties are disappearing. This is both a danger and an opportunity. Many new players in art and culture, politics and the media are enriching our world.

We talked to people from politics and the media about the relationship between culture and society and about the position of art and film in democracy. We are particularly interested in the role of the public sphere, which, as a space for free exchange, stood at the beginning of Enlightenment, from which democracy and human rights emerged. It is an essential foundation for an open society. Today, however, the public sphere is divided into many public spheres, even in a united Europe.

We know: No democracy without culture. We ask: Can culture save Europe? We hope with the European Friedrich Hölderlin: “Where there is danger, salvation also grows.”

With: Monika Grütters, Johannes Franzen, Arne Birkenstock, Elisabeth Bronfen

Moderation: Lisa Basten, Rüdiger Suchsland