By signing the RESISTANCE NOW: FREE CULTURE open letter, they express concerns about the “attacks, bans, layoffs and cutbacks” to cultural institutions in Hungary and Slovakia that are designed to undermine a “diverse European culture” – and which appear at risk of spreading into other European countries, such as The Netherlands, France and Germany. Earlier in November, ultra-nationalist groups violently obstructed a premiere by US actor and director John Malkovich at the National Theatre Ivan Vazov in Bulgaria.

Alarmed by this threat to cultural diversity in Europe posed by nationalist movements, Milo Rau & Artemis Vakianis (Directors Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen), Austria), Matej Drlička (Dismissed Director, Slovak National Theatre, Slovakia) and Vasil Vasilev (Director National Theatre, Bulgaria), initiated together with the network of publicly-funded theatres European Theatre Convention (ETC), the Prospero – Extended Theatre platform and the network Opera Europa the Open Letter RESISTANCE NOW: FREE CULTURE to the European Parliament.

The internationally renowned first signatories – which include Lukáš Trpišovský and Martin Kukučka (Artistic Directors of National Theatre Prague, Czech Republic) Krzysztof Warlikowski (Artistic Director of Nowy Teatr in Poland), Tiago Rodrigues (Director of the Festival d’Avignon in France), Iris Laufenberg  (Artistic Director of the Deutsches Theater in Germany), Gianina Carbunariu (director and playwright Romania), Mattias Anderson (Artistic Director Royal Dramaten in Sweden) and Peter de Caluwe (General & Artistic Director of La Monnaie / De Munt in Belgium) – collectively urge the European Parliament to “finally take an explicit stand” on cultural autonomy and implement a ‘Freedom of Culture Act’ to protect artists through the Rule of Law.

“Europe is based on the openness of the cultural life of the individual countries and their free cooperation,” the letter reads. “If these disappear, the European project loses its soul and meaning.”

The letter is launched with a discussion event on 30 November at Maillon Theatre in Strasbourg, which will be attended by former MEP and former French Minister for Culture, Catherine Trautmann. The letter will also be published in several leading European media. It is an “unprecedented” drive that connects leading institutions from 39 countries, including all EU Member States, and is a continuation of endeavours by the petition’s initiating organisations, such as the ‘RESISTANCE NOW’ tour and the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna initiative by Milo Rau and Artemis Vakianis; the ‘European Theatre Talks’ events and conferences by the European Theatre Convention (ETC), the largest network of publicly funded theatres in Europe; and events by Opera Europa and Prospero – Extended Theatre.

An adjoining petition is available from the 30 November for the general public to sign.

Speaking about the RESISTANCE NOW: FREE CULTURE petition, Milo Rau, Artistic Director of Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna, said: “Culture in Europe is facing a crisis. These problems are present across the continent so we need action now, or the European unification and peace project itself will eventually disappear as well.”

Heidi Wiley, Executive Director of ETC, added: “It is unprecedented to unite so many organisations across Europe and beyond with one clear aim: to demand that European institutions protect artistic freedom and autonomyof cultural spaces to operate as open and democratic environments that resist intimidation and political interference.”

Barbara Engelhardt, Artistic Director of Maillon, added: “Diversity of thought and freedom of expression are the bedrock of the European project. Our work at Maillon has always echoed this and we fully support the ambitions of this petition to secure greater artistic freedom across Europe.”

About Milo Rau & Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen)

Founded in 1951, the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) is one of the world’s most significant arts and cultural festivals with a radical socio-political impact. Every year in May and June for six weeks, it brings the most amazing artists to Vienna to create groundbreaking new works in the fields of theatre, music, dance, visual arts and everything inbetween and beyond. Under the Artistic Director Milo Rau the Vienna Festival 2024 proclaimed the Free Republic of Vienna.

festwochen.at

About ETC

Founded in 1988, the European Theatre Convention (ETC) is the largest network of public theatres in Europe. It is an arts organisation that promotes European theatre as a vital platform for dialogue, democracy and interaction that responds to, reflects and engages with today’s diverse audiences and changing societies. ETC’s programme of grants and events support networking, professional development and artistic collaborations for theatre staff across Europe — championing theatre as a key European art form for the 21st century.

ETC has 70 members from 32 countries and is supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

europeantheatre.eu

About Maillon

Maillon, Théâtre de Strasbourg - Scène européenne, bases its originality and European influence on its multidisciplinary, international and resolutely contemporary programming. Supported by public authorities, it has evolved into an editorialized project, and has become a place for supporting artistic creation, a European creative hub, committed to forging links with audiences from all horizons and cultural backgrounds.

maillon.eu

About Opera Europa

Opera Europa is the leading service organisation for professional opera companies and opera festivals throughout Europe. It currently serves over 240 members from 46 countries.

opera-europa.org

About Prospero – Extended Theatre

Prospero – Extended Theatre gathers ten partners (nine theatres and one media outlet, ARTE) from nine countries of the Union. In this project (running from 2020 to 2025) the partners, their respective teams and audience, as well as the involved artists, collaborate to redesign the production and distribution processes of plays, notably via the project’s streaming platform

prospero-theatre.eu