Forum city park
The Forum Stadtpark is an action group of artists, scientists and cultural workers founded in Graz in 1959 . The founding members included Othmar Carli , Alfred Kolleritsch , Gustav Zankl , Siegfried Neuburg , Emil Breisach and Günter Waldorf . They adapted the then empty Stadtpark- Cafe as a permanent location for exhibitions and events. Both the artists' association and the building in the middle of the Graz city park with the address Stadtpark 1 are referred to as the Forum Stadtpark .
The literature department of the Forum Stadtpark initiated the magazine for literature and art manuscripts in the early 1960s , which has so far produced more than 200 issues. In 1998, the literary magazine Schreibkraft was also launched and has been published independently since 1999.
Today, as then, the Forum Stadtpark sees itself as a multi-disciplinary building that stands for an expanded concept of art and cross-disciplinary work. Around 150 events in the fields of architecture, literature, visual arts, film, photography, media art, fashion, music, theater, performance and theory take place every year. With Carola Peschl, a woman took over the management of the association for the first time in 2009. In 2011, the previous deputy president Heidrun Primas took over the management of the house.
Current and former members (selection)
- Wolfgang Bauer , writer
- Fritz Erjautz , cameraman and film speaker
- Manfred Erjautz , visual artist
- Barbara Frischmuth , writer and translator
- Peter Handke , writer and translator
- Karl Hans Haysen, writer and culture editor
- Alois Hergouth , poet
- Eilfried Huth , architect
- Alfred Kolleritsch , writer and poet
- Carl Lugus , Tonkunstler
- Hans Preiner , author and TV producer
- Gerhard Roth , writer
- Michael Scharang , writer
- Xao Seffcheque , screenwriter and composer
- Horst Dieter Sihler, poet, culture and film critic, cinema maker
- Hartmut Urban , painter and graphic artist
- Manfred Willmann , photographer
On the history of the Forum Stadtpark
founding
In the summer of 1958, the young group with the visual artists Othmar Carli, Gustav Zankl and Günter Waldorf submitted an application to use the empty Graz Stadtpark Café permanently for art events. The city administration refused, however, and instead decided to demolish the building. It was only after protests from the press, politics and some artists' associations that a deadline was given to raise the necessary funds. The financing was successful. On January 15, 1959, the constituent assembly of the FORUM STADTPARK association took place. In November 1960 the building was opened with the exhibition Confession and Confrontation .
Start time
As a self-administered artists' association, the FORUM STADTPARK should represent the interests of cultural workers more strongly than before. The house is intended to serve as a podium, especially for young artists and scientists. The founders initially set out to include all cultural areas - including aesthetically traditional, historical, political and didactic topics. The result was nine equal presentations. During the 1960s, however, the proportion of theoretical courses decreased more and more. The initial ambition of a broad spectrum was replaced by a concentration on contemporary art and literature.
Change
In the 1960s and 1970s, the house developed into one of the few presentation and production locations for progressive art and literature of the time and established itself as an elite institution. At the same time, the self-image began to change, away from a cultural establishment towards a pure art establishment - if possible by bypassing the usual mediation bodies. In this sense, the FORUM STADTPARK is also a place of publication and a publisher. The literary magazine manuskripte, founded in 1960, brought the house international attention. The photo magazine Camera Austria , the film magazine blimp , the literary magazine Absolut , the essay magazine Liqueur and the magazine Schreibkraft are also published there . The Avantgarde Festival Steirischer Herbst was also initiated by the association . In addition, Xao Seffcheque and Carl Lugus established the “Musiclub” in the basement of the building in 1975 as a popular form of presentation for domestic and foreign musicians.
Restructuring
In 1995 Alfred Kolleritsch resigned as chairman after 26 years and handed over to Walter Grond. With the change in the board, there was also an exchange of most of the officials, speakers and employees. The aim was to reopen the “elitist” association for young artists and to resolve the stagnation in an outdated avant-garde term. Papers were dissolved and the artistic work was separated from the organizational one. This meant that projects focused on individuals could only be integrated to a limited extent. The Forum Stadtpark Theater , Camera Austria and the manuscripts went their own way from then on.
Remodeling & anniversary
1997 Peter Zinganel takes the place of Walter Grond. Under his direction, the house was sustainably renovated in 2000 and an upper floor was added. In 2003, Anton Lederer took over as chairman, who combined the previously independent presentations into a body - the program forum - and thus expanded the interdisciplinary orientation of the house. In 2009 the FORUM STADTPARK celebrates its 50th anniversary under the direction of Bernhard Wolf .
today
Today, as then, the FORUM STADTPARK sees itself as a multi-disciplinary building that stands for an expanded concept of art and cross-disciplinary work. Every year around 150 events in the fields of architecture, literature, visual arts, film, photography, media art, fashion, music, theater, performance and theory take place on three levels - most of them free of charge. It is the declared claim of the house to be a laboratory and platform for many scenes of local, Austrian and international cultural production.
The board members since Kolleritsch at a glance:
- 1995–1997: W. Grond, P. Zinganel (Deputy), G. Ostanek (Treasurer)
- 1997–2003: P. Zinganel, G. Muhr (deputy), G. Ostanek (treasurer)
- 2003–2007: A. Lederer, R. Binder-Krieglstein (deputy), A. Putz (cashier)
- 2007–2009: B. Wolf, C. Peschl (deputy), A. Putz and from 2008 K. Petrowitsch (treasurer)
- 2009–2011: C. Peschl, H. Primas (deputy), K. Petrowitsch (treasurer)
- 2011–2017: H. Primas, Johannes Schrettle (deputy), Ursula Musil (treasurer)
- 2017-present: H. Primas, Robin Klengel (Deputy), Emil Gruber (Treasurer)
On the architecture of the Forum Stadtpark
In 1958, when a group of artists - mostly writers, architects, and jazz musicians - asked for space, the city provided an empty café in the city park, as well as funding to convert it into a venue. The new home of the avant-garde was not allowed to exceed the size and extent of the existing building, as the city park has been subject to a construction ban since its construction in 1867. Years of pulsating vitality followed and the house became too small, an expansion was being considered, an initial extensive renovation plan was discarded and finally a concept was developed that provided for the expansion of the Forum Stadtpark exclusively upwards. The building was intended to make its content-related opening to new, younger audiences noticeable to the outside world, while preserving its memory.
The T-shape of the floor plan was retained. The addition of five new workrooms, equipped according to today's requirements, the middle of which is significantly larger and can be used for smaller events, was limited to the elongated wing. The roof of the existing extension is now used as a terrace. The new floor protrudes a little over the base and on the side of the meadow in front of the Stadtparkbrunnen becomes part of a dominant body broken up into steel beams and horizontal lamellas, the edges of which are only hinted at. This emblem, which is visible from afar and is held in brilliant white, is intended to express the significance of this cultural center, which has already become historical, as well as its openness and versatility.
Others
On May 1, 2011, Österreichische Post AG issued a postage stamp on the property as part of the definitive series of art houses .
literature
- Christine Rigler (Ed.): Generations. Literature in the Forum Stadtpark 1960–1995 . First edition. Droschl-Verlag, Graz 1995, ISBN 3-85420-422-1 .
- Christine Rigler (Ed.): Forum Stadtpark - the Graz avant-garde from 1960 until today . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-205-99487-6 . limited preview in Google Book search
Individual evidence
- ^ Forum Stadtpark . In: architektur im netz , nextroom.at. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 4 ′ 28.7 " N , 15 ° 26 ′ 36.7" E