With self-isolation and patience we go out of this strange year 2020. And full of hope for a life after Corona in 2021.

The year 2020 also ends in Austria with a lockdown, forcing us to be self-isolated and patient – and at least offering hope for a better 2021. The vaccinations begin. And the discussion about how to continue in the new year. Should vaccinated people with vaccination certificates be allowed to move more freely again? Does that involve discrimination against the non-vaccinated? “Some pressure to vaccinate will come from common sense.” Public health officer Robert Sollak, responsible for coordinating Covid vaccinations in Salzburg, assumes that vaccination will be a prerequisite for making tourist and cultural offers accessible again, Sollak told the Salzburger Nachrichten today (31 December).

The lockdown in Austria, and thus also in Salzburg, will initially last until 17 January; from Monday 18 January, there will be initial relaxations, which will also affect cultural life, according to the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs on its website. “Phase 2 runs from 18 to 24 January 2021 and includes first opening steps for all those who can show a negative test result, among others in the areas of gastronomy and tourism as well as culture and sports.”

The Mozarteum Foundation has announced that the Mozart Week in 2021 (21 to 31 January) can now unfortunately only take place as a streaming offering. But there is hope that at least museums will be allowed to reopen from 18 January.

Physiognomy of power

For example, the Museum der Moderne, which has been showing the exhibition “Physiognomy of Power – Harun Farocki and Florentina Pakosta” since 8 December 2020. The double exhibition is dedicated to the work of the German filmmaker Harun Farocki and the Austrian graphic artist and painter Florentina Pakosta in a comprehensive juxtaposition.

From the 1970s onwards, both artists placed the examination of aspects of power at the centre of their work. Farocki’s video installations, essay and documentary films deal with the mechanisms of the control and surveillance society or with the role of digital image media in warfare. Pakosta is a representative of the feminist avant-garde who addresses patriarchal structures of dominance and power in her works. She examines the male face of power and exposes it in a partly surrealistic manner.

The Lost Generation

From 27 January, the Museum Kunst der Verlorenen Generation is showing a special private collection of artists of the so-called Lost Generation. The art historian Rainer Zimmermann (1920-2009) coined the term “lost” or “lost” generation in 1980. Artists born at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries were massively restricted in their artistic activity by the National Socialist regime and ostracised as “degenerates”. As a result, most of them are unknown to a wider public. They were students of well-known teachers of their time such as Max Liebermann, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, Lovis Corinth or Henri Matisse.

The privately run and non-profit “Museum Kunst der Verlorenen Generation” (Museum of Art of the Lost Generation) aims to give these artists new attention and to shed light on their life’s work biographically. The collection currently numbers around 350 works and is constantly being expanded.

Love is in the Air

These are just two examples of why at least a day trip to Salzburg will hopefully be worthwhile again from the end of January. And then more very soon. Because in 2021 Salzburg has a lot of attractive events in store for the queer scene in addition to many cultural highlights and scenic attractions. First and foremost the CSD Salzburg from 3 to 5 September under the motto “Love is in the Air“. For this event, gaysalzburg.at is giving away three nights with breakfast at the arte Hotel Salzburg and two 72-hour Salzburg Cards. Simply send an e-mail to gewinnen@pgmedia.eu by 31 March 2021 with the keyword “I want to be at the CSD Salzburg 2021” (no cash payment, no legal recourse).

So we are full of hope for a life after Corona. And with that, I say goodbye to all readers of gaysalzburg.at and the Salzburg Gay Guide for 2020 and wish you a healthy and peaceful 2021.

Peter Goebel, Editor Salzburg Gay Guide and gaysalzburg.at I am happy to receive suggestions and criticism at peter.goebel@pgmedia.eu