RESISTANCE NOW! Republic of Love

Nationalist parties are gaining traction across Europe, from Germany's AfD to France's Rassemblement National, as well as in Hungary and Austria. They exploit societal fears, leading to divisions, and one of their first casualties is artistic freedom. In response, the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) adopted the theme "Republic of Love" for 2025, with the RESISTANCE NOW! debate on 5 November serving as a preview of this vision.

Livestreamed debate in Vienna

On the RESISTANCE NOW! tour, representatives of institutions, artists, and activists share their visions of a global, solidarity-based response to the dangers posed by the new nationalism.

After stops in Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States of America and Serbia, the tour landed in Vienna: moderated by Milo Rau, artistic director of the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna, Dóra Büki from the Hungarian Proton Theatre, the dismissed director of the Slovak National Theater Matej Drlička, and the Croatian philosopher and activist Srećko Horvat discuss how we can stand up together for democracy, diversity, and the freedom of art.

Moderated by Milo Rau, artistic director of the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna
With: Srećko Horvat, Dóra Büki, Matej Drlička

Biographies

Milo Rau, born in 1977 in Bern, is a renowned director, writer, and artist in residence at NTGent. He studied under influential figures like Pierre Bourdieu and Tzvetan Todorov. Since 2002, Rau has produced over fifty plays, films, and books, known for their provocative nature. His works have been presented at major festivals globally, and he's won numerous awards, including the ITI Prize of the World Theatre Day. He holds honorary doctorates from Lund University and Ghent University for his impactful contributions to contemporary theatre. Since 1 July 2023 Milo is artistic director of the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna.

Srećko Horvat, born 1983 in Croatia, is a philosopher and author of books like After the Apocalypse (Polity Press, 2021), Poetry from the Future (Penguin, 2019), The Radicality of Love (Polity, 2015) and What does Europe Want? (with Slavoj Žižek, Columbia University Press, 2013). The German weekly newspaper Der Freitag called him “one of the most exciting voices of his generation,“ and he was described as an “ardent voice of dissent in the post-Yugoslavian landscape.” His texts have been published in the New York Times, the Guardian, Der Spiegel, Newsweek, Al Jazeera, and Jacobin. He belongs to the cofounders of the pan-European movement DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement 2025), the Progressive International and the Island School of Social Autonomy.

Dóra Büki, managing director and producer of Proton Theatre, was born in Hungary in 1979. She studied German philology at the Eötvös Lóránd University and worked with the Hungarian independent company Krétakör (Chalk Circle) in several positions from 2003 till 2008. Later, between 2008 and 2009, she was responsible for international relations at Bárka Theatre. In 2009, she founded the independent company Proton Theatre together with film and theatre director Kornél Mundruczó. Dóra Büki is regularly invited to hold lectures in Hungary and abroad (in Hungarian, English, and German) to talk about her work as a theatre professional and a producer, as well as financial matters like business start-ups and business development. For her work towards the international recognition of Hungarian theatre, she received the Sándor Hevesi Award in 2023.

Matej Drlička, dismissed general director of the Slovak National Theatre, has led the largest cultural institution in Slovakia from January 2021 to November 2022 and again since May 2023 to August 2024. Originally trained at the Academy of Performing Arts, he performed as as a clarinettist in prestigious European orchestras and venues such as the Bavarian State Opera, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande or the Paris Opera, and was a permanent member of the Orchestre de Cannes. Due to an accident, he had to quit his career as a concert artist in 2005 and started to work in music management. Since then, he has worked as a creative industry manager, dramaturg, producer and organizer of major cultural and social events. He founded Viva Musica!, Slovakia’s largest summer festival for classical music in 2005 and served as project manager for the Abu Dhabi Classics Festival in 2008. Two years later, he made the most of his experience by founding his own company, Viva Musica! agency, which realises music productions and projects in Slovakia and abroad. In 2019, he organised Slovakia’s largest festival for technology IXPO.

About the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) | Free Republic of Vienna

Where do iconic figures of the theatre such as Elfriede Jelinek and Peter Brook meet radical performers like Carolina Bianchi and nora chipaumire? Where do we hear the music of Pussy Riot side by side with Mozart? Which festival opens its offices to the public, has its own hymn, and writes its own constitution? At the Vienna Festival, in the Free Republic of Vienna! Founded in 1951, the Vienna Festival is one of the world’s most significant arts and cultural festivals. 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 in between and beyond.

Under the artistic director Milo Rau the Vienna Festival proclaimed the Free Republic of Vienna with its own hymn, flag, new revolutionary institutions (Vienna Trials, Academy Second Modernism), with a permanent festival hub (the House of the Republic), a club (the Club of the Republic), and an advisory board that comprises citizens from all districts of the city (the Council of the Republic).

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