Encounter in Zurich. Since 1980

The Zürcher Theater Spektakel is a venue for encounters with international art. Since 1980, it has brought artists with different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives to Zurich. This open-mindedness is one of the key characteristics that this festival has brought to the City of Zurich and, indeed, Switzerland.

As an international festival in Switzerland, it is our task to open doors for international encounters, as the Zürcher Theater Spektakel has always done. This means that we include transcultural exchange and mutual understanding – an opportunity and a challenge for everyone involved. It requires all of us to recognise that we look at the world with different experiences, perspectives and beliefs in what is and is not possible. This requires a willingness to accept different points of view, as well as the courage to acknowledge positions that we ourselves do not hold – provided, of course, that these positions remain within the framework of our fundamental values and our laws.

The 2024 edition will take place in a politically-charged and tense climate. The number of discords and armed conflicts is increasing around the globe. Democratic, liberal societies are coming under pressure. Since 7 October 2023, the Middle East conflict has dominated virtual and real space. The terrible massacre by Hamas and the hostage-takings, Israel's fierce military response in the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian catastrophe for the Palestinian civilian population resulting from the war, which has now been going on for months, have also prompted many artists to use their cultural capital and visibility to show solidarity. Certain debates about positioning and solidarity sometimes lack empathy and differentiation and are often polarised.

As a cultural institution, we have been taking a critical look at issues of (anti-)discrimination for years. The Zürcher Theater Spektakel stands for respectful discourse and against exclusion. We do not provide a platform for hate speech and propaganda. We offer stages for artistic performances and formats for discourse and debate. As a public institution, we see it as our responsibility to define a red line beyond which respectful discourse is violated or undermined. Specifically, for the current conflict in the Middle East and the resulting debate, these are in particular: questioning Israel's right to exist, justifying and glorifying Hamas and its acts of violence, claiming that Jewish people are collectively to blame for Israel's government policy, blanket condemnation of solidarity with Palestine, claiming that Palestinians are collectively to blame for Hamas' crimes.

There is no place for hatred, baiting, racism, anti-Semitism, hostility towards Muslims and discrimination of any kind at our festival. In particular, at the Zürcher Theater Spektakel there can be no encounters beyond the that red line. As far as we are concerned, we consider it necessary and essential in view of the complexity of the conflicts that we, as a cultural institution and as a society, endure contradictions and ambiguity, uphold freedom of expression and do not allow mutual dialogue to break down. That is the basis for international encounters at this festival.

Zurich, June 2024, the festival direction