It can also do a lot in the long term!

Otto Tremetzberger (Managing Director of the Festival of Regions (FdR)) in conversation with Mieze Medusa. About regions and their networking, about the independent scene and perseverance that pays off, the important difference between uncertainty, insecurity and dissatisfaction. 

MM: The FdR travels through Upper Austria and takes place somewhere else every two years. Networking, exchange and dialog through the means of contemporary art and culture are the declared goal. What can it do?

OT: “Dialogue” means that it’s about more than just “playing” a region. We are not an organizer festival, but rather mentors for change. This is a cultural-political mission that strongly reflects the self-image of the independent scene in Upper Austria. Making things. Wanting to change things. Very often against resistance. A festival edition is always “not more of the same”. You see a region, a place through different eyes. 

That can have an amazing effect, even in the long term. Quite a few associations and initiatives have emerged from the festival. Something has always remained in the region. Memories. A sculpture. Concerns and topics with which local people have been strengthened by the festival and continue to work and think.

MM: The word “uncertainty” plays a central role in our reflections on the festival theme “Realistic Dreams”. How do we address these concerns, where are there opportunities for transformation?

OT: First of all, uncertainty should not be lumped together with insecurity and certainly not with dissatisfaction. Uncertainty also means that something has not yet been decided. The outcome is open. Of course you can worry, but you can also dream, think freely, try things out, turn things around.

MM: Change is not automatically a threat: what has positively surprised you in recent years?

OT: Not always, but very often I have been surprised by the resilience and youthfulness that is still present in the independent scene in Upper Austria and also in the FdR after more than 30 years.

MM: Why do we need decentralized art, culture and cultural policy that is not just concentrated in urban centers?

OT: Because the issues, the needs, the opportunities and, of course, the gaps, especially in the cultural and artistic field, that exist in the regions are too often ignored, but even more often simply overlooked. The distance between the Federal Chancellery and the Kulturhaus Gugg in Braunau is 300 kilometers and a 4-hour drive. The festival acts, at least temporarily, as a bridge to the centers and as a magnifying glass. Besides, you shouldn’t leave the regions to their own devices in terms of cultural policy.

MM: What have you learned about Braunau and the Innviertel in the last two years that you didn’t know before?

OT: I have relatives in Braunau and have been coming to the Innviertel region regularly to fish since the 1970s. Braunau is a very beautiful town. An unusually urban area for Upper Austria. More so than Wels or Bad Ischl as such to my mind. I didn’t realize that before. 

MM: What is a trial garden? What makes the FdR special?

OT: In the early days 30 years ago, “regions” were derisively referred to as cultural deserts. Every project was an experiment to see what worked. Pioneering work. Today, at least something is happening almost everywhere. But very often the same thing. There is a lack of energy and money for something new and different. Trying things out artistically, without commercial pressure, where is that still possible? 

MM: Who designs the FdR? Who are the artists? What is a programme board? What is a regional advisory board? Who are you, Otto Tremetzberger?

OT: You have to think of the festival as a “mishmash”. There is no all-powerful artistic director. The 5-member programme board is the collective artistic direction. The regional advisory board supports local networking. In addition, there are dozens of artists, cooperation partners, the festival team, the association board, the association advisory board and many more who contribute to the design and realization of the festival. 

MM: Your career and the FdR have at least one thing in common: a commitment to independent radio, social diversity and cultural participation. How did you join the FdR?

OT: In the 1990s as a party guest and sitting in front of the television. Because the ORF reported almost daily. In the 2000s, I myself was involved in projects by the independent radio stations & DORFTV, whose history is closely linked to that of the festival. The stations in Freistadt and Kirchdorf both emerged out of festival projects.

What they have in common with the festival is that it is not just about organizing or showing radio or art. It’s about dialog, participation and positive change.