At a distance. Austria without Vienna

We still don't know much about contemporary Austrians: who they are, what formed them, what their life outside of Vienna looks like. The Austrian issue of "Herito" is intended to tell us about contemporary Austria: the country emerged, like Poland, after the end of World War I, from the collapse of the multicultural monarchy. Has this heritage had and does it influence contemporary Austria? How did the Austrians form and was skiing really more important in this process than literature? What forces bind the inhabitants of the area between lakes Neusiedl and Constance? And did Thomas Bernhard really hate Austria with reciprocity? These are just some of the questions that we were looking for answers together with our authors: from Austria, Hungary and Poland, because it is not so that only its inhabitants can talk about the former great Danube monarchy, which became an Alpine republic. We look from above, from below, from Vienna and Vienna, but also beyond, reaching as far as Carinthia and Graz, to history and sports, painting and literature, to give a full picture of post-Habsburg Austria, to portray its inhabitants, to show post-war dilemmas.

The meeting is available on the MCK YouTube channel.

Martin Pollack - Austrian essayist, journalist, Slavist, translator of Polish literature. She specializes in Central European issues, shows ethnic conflicts and the common history of the nations inhabiting it. He translated into German the works of many Polish writers and essayists, including Andrzej Bobkowski, Ryszard Kapuściński and Mariusz Wilk. He is a laureate of the Angelus Award (2007) and the Karl Dedecius for translating Polish literature. In 2016, he received the Translation Award for Ryszard Kapuściński's Translators.

Jacek Purchla - lecturer, one of the world's leading experts in the field of cultural heritage. He conducts research on city development, social history and art history of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the theory and protection of cultural heritage. Author of over 400 scientific papers, including many books. The founder and long-term director of the International Cultural Center, where he still manages the Institute of European Heritage. In 2015–2020, he was the chairman of the Polish UNESCO Committee, and in 2016–2017, the chairman of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

Łukasz Galusek - program director of the International Cultural Center in Krakow. He deals with the culture and art of Central Europe, especially the relationship between space, memory and identity. He is the author of over 150 scientific publications on the cultural heritage of Central Europe, as well as the issues of memory and cultural education.

Partners: Consulate General of Austria in Kraków and the Austrian Cultural Forum.