Zwentendorf-Feiertag

Can climate awareness also evoke positive feelings such as joy, unity, and hope? On November 5, precisely in times of climate collapse and authoritarian dismantling of democracy, we want to create new inclusive points of reference for a planet in crisis by proclaiming the “Zwentendorf Holiday”!

On the anniversary of the “No to Nuclear Energy” referendum, we celebrate and demand Austria's first ecological holiday. A day on which we remember old struggles and achievements and recharge our batteries for new transformations. A ritual to practice the rejection of modern promises of salvation and to find a better life on this planet.

On November 5, 1978, something unique happened: overcoming all divisions, Austria found consensus in being proud of its nuclear-free status, now enshrined in the constitution. On this day, we want to remember and learn that climate awareness does not only have to evoke negative feelings such as shame, fear, and depression, but can also lead to empowerment, pride, hope, and the longing for a better life! In our opinion, a society in multiple crises needs positive points of reference in order to tackle the enormous challenges of the future with hope and strength.

From 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., the Ethnographical Museum Vienna (Volkskundemuseum) will be the first venue for this new, still officially to be fought for holiday for a livable future in Austria. Visitors and fellow celebrants can expect a varied and exciting program ranging from opera to discourse, performance to photo exhibition, as well as concerts, activist sharing circles and culinary installations

For this new holiday, a team of six artists has developed its own multifaceted ritual for “Cancellation Day” in a ten-day artistic laboratory, which will engage all the senses and all media, from opera singing to performance art, from video art to culinary installations. As a festive framework for the inclusive ritual, composer Matthias Werner has composed our own anthem called “Sounds, not Reactors,” which will be premiered on November 5 by the wind ensemble Federspiel. In addition, the international artist collective The ZoNE has created an immersive space for us in the Volkskundemuseum, which recontextualizes protest songs from past and present and discusses them with visitors. Within this artistic framework, there will be four lectures: Zwentendorf veteran Thomas Neff, founder of the artistic activism platform “Plagegeister,” will talk about anti-nuclear struggles today and in the past. Environmental historian Sophia Rut will give a lecture on the Austrian environmental movement in general and the fight against the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant in particular. Raphael Zimmerl, nuclear safety officer at the Vienna Environmental Ombudsman's Office, will talk about the situation of nuclear power in Europe and Austria. And last but not least, project initiator Kilian Jörg, together with the artist collective -h-, will talk about the role of rituals and holidays in activism. The collective -h- lives in the ZAD Notre-Dame-des-Landes, the largest occupied zone in Europe, where it has (as part of the Cellule d'Action Rituelle) introduced a holiday to mark the cancellation of the airport that they have fought against – a shining example and a great inspiration for the Zwentendorf holiday, in the spirit of which we say: “We are nature defending itself” – namely: “against the nuclear power plant and its world!”

Artistic Team of the „Cancellation-Day“ Ritual: Kollektiv -h-, Verena Frauenlob, Kilian Jörg, Andrew Munn und Sabrina Rosina

--> more info on the event, see here.

Gefördert durch die Stadt Wien Kultur (MA7), der Abteilung Kunst und Kultur der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung, die Sektion IV - Kunst und Kultur des Österreichischen Bundesministeriums für Wohnen, Kunst, Kultur, Medien und Sport sowie den Bezirk Penzing.