A father of the house influences the constitution of a German parliament in favour of his own party; in the US or Brazil, democratic institutions are threatened by angry mobs; the right to individual self-determination is challenged in Hungary or Poland; critical researchers are forced into exile in Turkey or Egypt; and journalists fear persecution in Mexico or Russia. These are just a few examples of the many ways in which ideas of freedom are under pressure around the world, including in Germany.
How do we deal with the fact that the certainties of the past are disappearing and the question of the limits of freedom is suddenly a reality?
The GlobeFestival takes up these questions and offers three days of creative spaces for reflection, discussion and exploration to find out what freedom means in today’s world and how we can preserve its foundations. The festival invites people of all ages and backgrounds to contribute their own perspectives and gain new insights. Formats range from panel discussions and film screenings to interactive presentations, workshops and performances:
- Thursday, 24 October: The ARTeFact science show will bring art and law together at 7pm in the Moritzbastei. Artists will present a unique performance interpreting legal research and social tensions.
- Friday, 25 October: “There is a lot of talk about freedom, but not about how we can pay our rent.” A new ARTE film reports on the election campaign in the swing state of Wisconsin. The documentary will premiere at 6.30pm in the Paulinum. Afterwards, the director Tim Boehme and researchers will discuss the deep political divides in the land of the free.
- Saturday, 26 October: From 12.30pm, the University will open the Neues Augusteum and the Paulinum for an interactive programme on the theme of Precarious Freedom. The programme will run until the evening. Among the participants are historian Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, journalist Antonie Rietzschel, education reformer Margret Rasfeld, EU parliamentarian Matthias Ecke and Simona Stoytchkova, author and former board member at international finance companies. Together they will look at the increasingly precarious freedoms in Germany, Europe and the world.
At 7pm, four members of the Institute of Philosophy will host a paradigm slam, pitting great ideas about freedom from the history of philosophy against each other, and asking the audience to decide which paradigm is best suited to the challenges of the present.
On Saturday, the Research Institute for Social Cohesion invites you to Escape Bubbles, an escape game located somewhere between filter bubbles and the future of democracy. At Meet a Scientist, visitors can engage directly with researchers on various facets of Precarious Freedom. On the question of freedom in education, there will also be an exhibition by Leipzig school pupils in the Paulinum and a themed workshop entitled Freiheit statt Ohnmacht (Freedom instead of powerlessness), organised with RealLabor Leipzig.
For the full programme and more information, visit the festival website