
A SEASON IN HELL
Today the evil is practiced while the good is spoken.
We are constantly confronted with appeasements and excuses. Behind the repression the fascination with cruelty and violance is growing. In times of medical dependance the power of suppression and destruction concealed by images and messages is increasing. Organizing a festival about hell means trying to reveal this contradiction. Not voyeurism, but bewidlement, not generalization, but communication is the aim.
The festival is about all of us. It describes our fears and obsessions: The impossibility to escape from human existence. It demonstrates the artistic will to resist this impossibility to escape. Hell on earth is a psychological condition on the individual and the society. Its meaning is derived from the opposing notion of heaven. Therefore, a season in hell is also the starting point of a festival-trilogy, which is an inquiry into the art of survival. 1995 talks about purgatory, 1996 about heaven. This inquiry is heading for light. It starts in darkness. Michael Stolhofer
It will be the duty of the future to investigate the realm of the evil until no secrets are left. Henry Miller
The festival is dedicated to the memory of Roberto Cimetta (festival director, died 1989) and Ron Vawter (actor, died 1994) who already are in heaven.
Here is the first MPEG-movie: (Montazstroj, 10MB)
The Salzburg Information Center provides cultural and historical information on an experimental basis. It is maintained by Bernhard Nocker from the University of Salzburg's Department of Computing Studies.