The 20th edition of the Elevate Festival opened on Wednesday in Graz with warning words about the impending loss of democracy. The words came from the Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk and the Austrian Federal President Alexander van der Bellen.
“Freedom is a fragile good,” says Oleksandra Matviichuk in her opening speech for the anniversary edition of the Graz Elevate Festival. She should know, because as a human rights lawyer in her native Ukraine, she has been living for years on a front where not only a war is being fought against the aggressor Russia, but also in defense of democracy: “And it’s not just about Russia. Iran, China and other authoritarian states are also supporting Putin in his war because they want to weaken democratic values defend: “And every single one of us can do that, because even as ordinary citizens we have far more influence than we realize,” she says, citing her fellow Ukrainians as an example: “Since the beginning of the war, Many ordinary people achieved extraordinary things. And we all have to do that – every day. It is we who determine our history and our future,” she says. The “invisible bond” of togetherness Federal President Alexander van der Bellen struck the same note in his welcoming remarks at the Graz Orpheum. He speaks of an “invisible bond” that holds us together as people, as a democratic and free society, and warns: “At the gates of Europe there are autocrats who are about to cut the bond, but in our neighboring countries they are already holding on the scissors in hand, curtails the rights of the media, of women. And here in Austria, too, the fundamental pillars of liberal democracy are being cut.” Van der Bellen pleads not to take democracy for granted, but rather to actively work on it so that “the bond does not break.” “Democracy is a word of action.” Exactly That is also the goal of those responsible for Elevate, as discourse curator Irina Nalis summed up at the opening: “Democracy is a word of action. We all have to do something to ensure that it continues to function.” The festival has been offering impulses for this for 20 years and that is exactly what those responsible are planning for this year’s anniversary edition – until Sunday at various venues in Graz.
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