Gentle Utopia
 

The first Long Night of Utopia featured intricate thoughts, ethereal insight, and soothing sounds.

Long Night of Utopia
F.l.: Kepler Salon director Norbert Trawöger, author Valerie Fritsch, historian and author Philip Blom, actress Dörte Lyssewski, and JKU Rector Meinhard Lukas

On July 31, actress Dörte Lyssewski (Burgtheater, Vienna), author Valerie Fritsch, historian Philipp Blom, and CHORUS SINE NOMINE turned the new library courtyard at the JKU into a utopian space. The defining moments were not made up of an imagined community of nearly perfect qualities, but rather a reflected perspective.

During the afternoon, Dörte Lyssewski read passages from Erich Kästner's "Der 35. Mai" for young and old alike. The evening event opened with passages by Grillparzer, including the final monologue of Libussa, addressing all of human civilization’s adversities which are truer today than ever before. Philipp Blom interpreted Utopia as a map that merely shows one how to get there but without correctly depicting future realities. Valerie Fritsch pleaded for a "Zärtliche Welt" in the text written especially for the event:

„... ich denke gerne an eine ganze zärtliche Welt, in der nicht das Archaische, aber das Grobe verblasst, man die verwirrenden Gleichzeitigkeiten und
Widersprüche des auf der Welt-Seins aushält, an den aufrechten Buchrücken Rückgrat lernt, weiß, dass Leben nicht linear ist, man zart ist miteinander,
ungestüm, und weich trotz Erfahrung, in der man wünscht und handelt, frei und ungebeugt empfänglich ist für das Schöne und den Schmerz, durchlässig für ein ungefügiges Glück und wilde Ideen.“

Directed by Johannes Hiemetsberger, CHORUS SINE NOMINE encompassed the utopian-themed evening with captivating songs. Dörte Lyssewski selected a text by author and philosopher Jean Paul (1763 - 1825) to conclude the event: "... es muss einen Gott - eine Tugend und eine Ewigkeit geben".