Following the Austrian general election in October 1999, a coalition government was formed in Austria in February 2000 joining the conservative People's Party with the right-wing Freedom Party. The inclusion of the Freedom Party, which had attained 27% of the vote in the general election, unleashed a storm of protest within Austria and abroad. Notably, EU member countries implemented diplomatic sanctions against Austria by downgrading bilateral contacts. In an attempt to calm fears, the President of Austria required the party leaders to sign a declaration of adherence to the principles of democracy and human rights of the European Union before accepting the coalition government. Jörg Haider did not join the government and has since resigned as leader of the Freedom Party. He remains governor of Carinthia.

Anthony Auerbach wrote:
The visual arts programme organised by Anthony Auerbach for the Austrian Cultural Institute in London, launched in June 1999, is independent of political interference and aims to provide a platform for artists' initiatives and international co-operation. The artistic freedom of the programme did not, however, mean that Anthony Auerbach and the other artists involved could take no notice of these political developments and the issues they have raised in Austria, in the EU and abroad. The exhibition 'The Developed Surface 3' was therefore postponed.

A comment by Anthony Auerbach on the reactions to the formation of the coalition government in Austria was earlier published in Art Monthy, May 2000:

Your editorial, 'Political Purdah' and your notice about the activities of Austrian artists' organisations in response to the formation of a coalition government including members of a right-wing party, as well as the advertisement issued by Bank (AM 235), highlight issues that are at once clear-cut and easily confused.

Politics doesn't always require us to be particularly clever, let alone artistic. It requires things like voting, communicating and organising. However, the complex of relations that exists between art and politics, between artists and the state, between art work and political work provide as many pitfalls as opportunities for artists. Art makes a profession of ambiguity that often leaves it unprepared for a political emergency.

The taste for ambiguity may have encouraged me in taking on the project of organising a programme of contemporary visual art for The Austrian Cultural Institute in London, which was launched last Summer. My position as a British artist working as a freelance within an institution which is part of Austria's diplomatic mission (although relatively autonomous under its own directorship) has given me a particular perspective on and sensitivity to the Austrian situation. It has also landed me in a situation which requires a precise response.

In accepting the commission from The Austrian Cultural Institute, I made it clear I would not follow a national agenda, but instead try to develop a context for artists' initiatives and international collaboration. Having announced at the outset a programme that would be 'sensitive to the given situation, that will expose and exploit the peculiarities of the exhibition space,' the entry of of the Freedom Party (then led by Jörg Haider) to government in Austria forced me, as it were, to recall myself for consultations. In suspending the programme, I did not declare a boycott of the programme for which I am responsible, but rather, I ducked. It was not going to be my business to protect Austrian institutions from the consequences of Austrian party politics. I did not want to find myself presenting the next exhibition against the background of the media storm which accompanied the first weeks of the new government, or help to counter this sensation even indirectly. That my main venue and sponsor should suddenly go into credibility nose-dive was bad enough. Almost as embarrassing were solemn declarations issued by Austrian artists, as if they were expecting to be awarded a prize for being against racism.

While artists have been prominent in voicing opposition to the new government, and there is in the Austrian art world a great appetite for political discussion, one might well ask why groups such as the ones mentioned in 'Artnotes' seem so keen to make declarations which are more or less identical with the one Schüssel and Haider were required to sign before the formation of the new government was accepted by President Klestil. Why should special pleading for artists be attached to such declarations? Why do they seem so bewildered that a well organised party (with a slick but ugly campaign) has succeeded in breaking through the stagnation of democracy in Austria that has resulted from power remaining in the hands of the established parties for more than forty years? Why should these artists choose to intervene on the international scene when there would appear to be political work to be done at home?

Austria is a small country to which international relations are particularly important. It also takes pride in itself as a nation of culture, to the extent that artists in Austria enjoy a level of state support that would be unimaginable in the UK. Furthermore, the art world is dependent both on international contacts and state support because Austria lacks a significant domestic art market. Today, the relation between artists (in so far as they proclaim themselves as a group) and the government is comparable with what one might expect between a reactionary civil service and a radical reforming government. It remains to be seen whether this government will do anything radical. An odd thing about Austria, especially from a UK perspective, is how seriously the political class takes culture, and not just to boost the tourist industry. Artists are expected and encouraged to be the thorns in the side of the establishment and supported lavishly for just this purpose in a kind of a sado-masochistic relationship which helps to assure artists of their privileges—including the sense of their public role—and government of its liberal credentials.

Art will always be an easy target for political critique, but it should not be assumed that artistic critique will always be correct for politics. A bit of analysis and insight won't dispel the ambiguities that art can still claim as its domain, but it can raise the stakes when it comes to an intervention in the public sphere, artistic or otherwise.

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