VIENNA DESIGN WEEK × European Forum Alpbach
In the global super-election year 2024, the European Forum Alpbach (EFA) and the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK invite participants to choose the world they want to live in. An interactive election campaign experience will scrutinise the rituals and symbolism of the democratic process. In this way, the EFA24 arts and culture programme acts as a playful reflection on the utopian potential of elections and democracy itself.
The project will be presented at this year’s EFA event from 17 to 30 August in Alpbach/Tyrol, and will include participatory performances and workshops on 26 and 27 August 2024, culminating in election night, when the winner will be announced. The intervention created at the European Forum Alpbach annual event will then be shown at the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK from 20 to 29 September 2024.
Nine researchers, campaigners, designers and architects were invited to develop campaigns and to design election headquarters. Poster campaigns will be visible all over the village of Alpbach. The twist: instead of focusing on short-term gains, they will offer utopian visions of the future. EFA participants will cast their vote for a long-term optimistic future of their choice.
Viktoria Kirner, Florian Puschmann and Aleksandar Todorović will present a techno-utopian election campaign set in a future where AI promises unprecedented freedom and humans no longer have to work. The campaign asks voters to place their trust in machines entirely. Mankind and machines continue hand in hand; humans are offered unlimited leisure and wellness.
Zeynep Aksöz Balzar, Tonica Hunter, Jakob Mayr and Kilian Wittmann will present a multi-species election campaign set in a future where humanity has overcome the illusion that it is the pinnacle of nature, and political structures are organised accordingly. Taking its inspiration from collective ways of being, the campaign focuses on species other than humans and asks: who gets to vote in an election, and why?
Election headquarters, specially designed by architects Kathrina Duller and Nikolaus Podlaha, will be located in a disused former supermarket in the centre of the village of Alpbach and will include a ballot box.
Gabriel Roland, Director of the Vienna Design Week, said: ‘The project is a two-fold opportunity: on the one hand to examine the roles of design in the democratic process, and on the other to reflect the immediate responsibilities that are attached to utopian projects. In both, we harness the powers of speculation, imagination, and experimentation.’
Theodora Danek, Arts & Culture Manager of the European Forum Alpbach, said: ‘During a tense election year, utopian thinking is a method offering EFA participants the time and space to look far beyond the next few election cycles, dream of what a positive future could look like and ultimately vote for the future they want, while also reflecting on the role that slogans, posters and rallies play in getting us there.’
PROGRAM EUROPEAN FORUM ALPBACH
Campaign for the future
Monday, 26. August, 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm, Schulhäusl
Have you heard the good news? It’s a historic election year: the ideal time for a playful reflection on the utopian potential of elections and democracy itself. Take part in two utopian election campaigns and work with the campaign teams as they prepare for a collective performative election rally.
alpbach.org/sessions/campaign-for-the-future
Inhabit the Future: Election Night
Tuesday, 27. August, 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm, CCA Loggia
A campaign with a twist appears all over Alpbach this year. The votes have almost been counted, exit polls are announced, the excitement is mounting: Which long-term vision of the future will it be? Who will win the election of utopias? The students of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art will help you decide by staging two different visions during an exciting election rally. The campaign is almost over – cast your vote and be there when the results are announced.
alpbach.org/sessions/inhabit-the-future-election-night
PROGRAMM VIENNA DESIGN WEEK
INHABIT THE FUTURE
Sep 20–29, 11–20:00, Festivalzentrale
Cocktail: Sep 21, 17–22:00
Finissage: Sep 29.9, 17–20:00