The talk will be in English

„The times we live in fragment my thinking and, consequently, my writing. There is no longer a coherent narrative, no whole—only fragments with sharp edges that constantly cut me.“
– Sasha Marianna Salzmann

In times of political and other crises, like the present, free artists are often called upon to make declarations. Sometimes their fame is exploited by politics for broad identification purposes; other times, they are held accountable for societal issues caused by political decisions. Some offer their names willingly—out of conviction, ego, or opportunism—while others are punished for their art or disinvited because of their background. Cultural boycotts become a substitute for politics.

„The idea of preventing Israeli writers or filmmakers from appearing internationally follows the logic of first-graders.“
– Etgar Keret in an interview with taz

Sasha Marianna Salzmann and Etgar Keret—she a diasporic writer, he an Israeli writer, both critically reflecting on their respective environments in their works—exchange views on how political events influence their art in different ways.

In his text „Setting the Sky on Fire,“ Etgar Keret describes how, after October 7th, he could no longer simply indulge in imagination while writing. It was no longer just about filling himself with stories.

„Life with all its horrors found its way to my forest clearing and demanded that I do more than just chow down.“

Sasha Marianna Salzmann remarks in a speech on the role of art in times of war:
„…art neither propagates a better world that does not exist (…), nor are we artists responsible for depicting the apocalypse in a way that shocks the audience to their core, so that they might finally think more about the survival of humanity, the state of our planet, and so on…“