WAR IS STUPID - Mission Statement
“War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers”
- Culture Club, The War Song, 1984
Everything is connected, everything is entangled. When you speak about one thing, you are also speaking about the other. The name “War is Stupid” does not only refer to Ukraine, but rather to violence, repression and the mantra that we do not know, or to be more exact, we did not want to know, we do not want to know, and we will not want to know.
In ancient Greece it was believed that when a person dies, the soul must first drink from the river Kokytos in order to find out in the first place that it is now dead. In the midst of destroyed surroundings, gated communities, and dilapidated city settlements of near democratic futures, we will find no sources or streams to refresh ourselves to a point where we know that we have fallen, and that we have been long dead before Mars and Daimos and Phobos killed us all.
The songs of Pan and Hedon show a path towards happiness. And even if we know not God, no singular truth, the multilayeredness of reality and perspectives, behind all these stories we can find human beings and the wish for a good life.
We make culture. Sometimes we show art and every now and again we show Logos, language, and poetry. We are loud, but not loud enough. In many festival editions we followed Mark Fisher, we have tried to make music to end the divisions of race and class, have written poetry for the heart of darkness, which – contrary to Joseph Conrad – is not actually to be found in Africa, we have paid homage to love and its actions in our titles, and we have demanded a pop life for all.
The Tibetan book of the dead teaches us how “better hearing” within the nether-regions between life and death can lead us to a brighter existence. We are more humble than that, we will attempt a better hearing in life. It would be nice to reach for a brighter existence if you agree with the image, but that is not within our scope to demand. But even in the greatest possible confusion and temptation we have to make it clear that war cannot be. Diversity must be, friendly and respectful adoption must be, greeting and hosting, inviting and visiting. Every single political step must always be measured by the greatest possible gain of happiness for people, and not by principles of revenge, and profit, and groups of hate and hatred.
We‘re looking forward to you!
“War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And love means nothing in some strange quarters
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers”
🖤