steirischer herbst '24

Nationalism has made a spectacular comeback, with tribalism, particularism, and local pride embraced across the political spectrum. As the post–Cold War order erodes, the nation appears as a refuge, yet it remains an illusory one, an “imagined community,” as Benedict Anderson put it. Horror Patriae, the 2024 edition of steirischer herbst, tackled nostalgic and imaginary constructions of nationhood, juxtaposing them with neglected and silenced stories of strange encounters, hybrids, and happy miscegenation. Combining essays and conversations, the festival’s reader further examines the new nationalisms and how to resist them.

Ekaterina Degot (1958, Moscow, Russia) is an art historian, researcher, and curator. From 2014 to 2017, she was artistic director of the Academy of the Arts of the World in Cologne. Since 2018, she has been director and chief curator of steirischer herbst.

David Riff (1975, London, UK) is a writer, translator, artist, curator, and former member of the art group Chto Delat. He has been a curator at steirischer herbst since 2018.