Professionalization phases in the macrocosm?

Can the idea of FORUM STADTPARK as a free experimental space with possibilities of professionalization for each member be confirmed? With this in mind, Claudia Gerhäusser, Architecture Division, searched through the archives of the FORUM STADTPARK. In particular, the figure of Dietrich Ecker was of interest as an example, in order to begin to address the events in the FORUM and their impact.

During the archival work, documents of a crisis atmosphere in the Forum Stadtpark at the end of the 1960s emerge. There is a search for renewal and new impulses and a full commitment to a younger generation. Ideas are sought in the board of directors. Exhibitions and events are planned that "reprogram" the Forum. Some of the long-time members remain skeptical "almost no new people have joined in recent years." Others appeal to the tradition of non-conformity in the house "We have to stop being happy about being integrated, the Forum has to break away." Protest against ongoing cultural policies and funding policies "through total refusal" is also being considered. In this situation, Dietrich Ecker, as part of TEAM A GRAZ, is one of the NEW. However, what Dietrich Ecker saw and experienced in the Forum Stadtpark in the early 1970s remains only a vague conjecture in the archive.

With the collection of posters of events from the period 1971 - 1976 this macrocosm FORUM STADTPARK is traced: What could be found in the archive can be seen! This also means that cross-references, parallels and connections between yesterday and today can be rediscovered NOW.

In cooperation with the HDA