peripheries in transition
The Carinthian Cultural Foundation will launch an Austria-wide open call for proposals in 2026 – endowed with 200,000 euros – and is looking for outstanding art and culture projects on the overarching theme: PERIPHERIES IN TRANSITION
ON THE TOPIC OF PERIPHERALS IN TRANSITION
Change is vitality, transformation the foundation of all existence. Currently, complex societal crises, ecological shifts, and the questioning and erosion of democratic achievements, values, and processes are shaking our confidence in a good, promising future. And rightly so, younger generations are increasingly demanding the solidarity-based safeguarding of essential resources and adequate development opportunities as the basis for a sufficiently good, peaceful, and fulfilling coexistence. Working together to achieve this is a task that transcends generations.
A key prerequisite for confidence and the mobilization of individual and collective resources is the accessibility and development of suitable spaces. These must be secured and newly created in both urban and rural areas. Divisive actions and attitudes, demarcation, and the deepening of antagonisms, such as between "center" and "periphery," are not effective means to this end. Rather, they exacerbate social impoverishment, promote economic inequality, and erode the sense of community.
In contrast, continuous structural change has long been opening up new, contrasting perspectives: The so-called "periphery" is being rediscovered. Digital networking and creative networks enable new forms of mobility and make it possible to anchor work—including cultural work—outside urban centers. Rural areas are not only personal retreats but are also becoming laboratories for future models—away from urban density and beyond outdated clichés. "Leaving" and "returning" are, after all, part of diverse lifestyles that connect city and country—"center" and "periphery." Mobility can thus also be conceived as a circular movement—a commuting between spaces, experiences, and identities that mutually enrich one another.