2013 marks the 7th edition of the Elevate and opens the door to a festival that gathers contemporary music, arts and political discourse under one roof. The Schlossberg in Graz is not only featured in the festival logo, but is also the location of the festival events. Starting from the 23rd of October with the opening show “Elevate Open Everything”, the festival will cover four days of intensive linguistic and phonetic debates.
The underlying intention of combining social and cultural political issues with advanced electronic music, literature and art forms the festival framework to welcome local, national and international guests. During the festival, these guest will pursue and reflect on several questions, including “What does public/private mean in the 21st century?”. The artists share the will to present and propose suggestions and alternatives for the current system aside from the mainstream.
Discussions will take place both in the Dom im Berg and the Forum Stadtpark , which has always been a platform for artists, scientists and cultural workers. The admission to the day program is free. At night many well-known acts will be performing, such as Jon Hopkins, Ogris Debris, The New Tower Generation, Ritornell & Mimu, Dorian Concept, and many more.
The final highlight of the festival is the bestowal of three awards. The Elevate Award honors people, initiatives or projects that commit themselves in an innovative, positive sustainable manner for the community. In addition to the Elevate Award Styria and the Elevate Artivism Award, which is chosen by the audience, a 95-headed jury of former festival participants decide on the international Elevate Award.
Once again the organizers of the Elevate Festival give proof of an extreme diversity and uniqueness and call upon the interested festival visitors to look beyond the borders of the highly stylized club culture, to discover novelties and maybe question established routines.
Lucia Laggner
(translated from German)
Photo: Lupi Spuma
Link: 2013.elevate.at