E PLURIBUS UNUM?
Europe today is caught between two fires. To the east, the war in Ukraine is making it clear that not everyone automatically appreciates the birth of new democracies. To the west, the developments in the US are revealing to a staggering degree how much the survival of even centuries-old democracies cannot be taken for granted. While the horror in Ukraine has by now peaked, the events in America are primarily waking us up to the fragility of an apparently established peace. Every day, we observe how minor violations of law and of common decency undermine a community’s stability.
The liberal arts are also threatened by these developments, with as a symbolic example the (even literal) trumpification of the Kennedy Center in Washington. Under normal circumstances, the Center would have seen the premiere of Philip Glass’ Fifteenth Symphony this summer. This work is based on a famous speech by Abraham Lincoln, in which (long before his election as president) he warns about ambitious leaders who are willing to sacrifice democracy to their own greater glory and honour. Lincoln urges us to uphold, among other things, an unconditional respect for the law, which according to him is the only way to advance as a society. Glass withdrew the work shortly after Trump committed a coup d’état on the cultural temple, and immediately banned any form of diversity or alternative ideas.
In the meantime, the decision was taken to temporarily close the Trump Kennedy Center. The board meeting took place, unbelievably, in the East Wing of the White House, against a backdrop of American flags and banners clearly reading ‘e pluribus unum’, which for this occasion might best be translated as 'from diversity to mindless uniformity’. A quarter of a million dollars has been allocated to pimping the white temple into a Trump-style art resort, with lots of stone and little spirit.
Some say that America isn’t western Europe, and of course it is not. But neither is today's America the nation it was five years ago. Some think that we shouldn’t make mountains out of molehills, while others warn that, above all, we mustn’t wait until the molehills themselves become mountains. In any case, without getting too worked up or pessimistic, we admittedly need to unlearn our habit of considering peace as something self-evident. I don’t mean peace as simply the absence of war, but primarily peace as fertile ground for the unfettered development of every individual.
Cultural institutions play a crucial part in safeguarding this peace. These are places where freedom of expression can, may, and even must manifest itself, par excellence; where clashing viewpoints, unorthodox ideas and uncomfortable confrontations are considered natural aspects of a humane form of coexistence, in addition to experiences of pleasure, enjoyment and simple connectedness. In all modesty, Festival 20·21 is also an institution that safeguards this peace and works hard to maintain it. This year we’re doing that symbolically with an opening concert that indicts war, and with the theme for our full-day event honouring the pacifist composer Benjamin Britten. But we nourish that ideal through our other concerts as well, thematic or not, simply through the diversity of styles, visions and views we present. We stand for a plurality based on a shared ideal of peace, freedom and connection, actually better expressed as ‘ex uno plura! ex uno plura!’.