Encounter in Zurich. Since 1980

The Zürcher Theater Spektakel is a place of encounter with international art. Since 1980, it has brought artists with diverse experiences, backgrounds and perspectives to Zurich. This openness to the world is one of the festival’s key contributions – both to the city and to Switzerland.

As an international festival based in Switzerland, we see it as our responsibility to keep open the space for international exchange that the Zürcher Theater Spektakel has always offered. This includes transcultural dialogue and mutual understanding. It is both an opportunity and a challenge for everyone involved. It requires us to acknowledge that we look at the world from vastly different positions, shaped by differing experiences, resources and perspectives. It calls for a willingness to engage with other viewpoints and realities – and the courage to tolerate positions we may not share ourselves, provided they remain within the framework of fundamental democratic values and the law.

The 2024 edition of the festival already took place in a politically charged and tense atmosphere. It prompted us to once again articulate what the Zürcher Theater Spektakel stands for – as a stage for contemporary artistic creation and as a platform for conversation, exchange and discourse.

As a cultural institution closely connected with artists around the world – and committed to a critically engaged exploration of the urgent questions of our time through the means of our artistic programme – we are deeply concerned by the increasing vehemence with which wars are being waged. Political and civil voices advocating for a genuine perspective on peace are hardly heard anymore – or have fallen silent altogether – drowned out by rhetorical and financial militarisation, and by so-called «solutions» that at times verge on inhumanity. We also witness how expressions of solidarity are being misinterpreted as one-sided political statements, how empathy is reframed as discrimination – and how such accusations are increasingly used to discredit those active in civil society and the arts. This is part of a growing authoritarian tendency, as governments in many parts of the world feel less and less bound by the law and by international legal norms.

And amidst all this, people continue to die. In current conflict regions, the protection of civilians seems to be increasingly disregarded. Civilian casualties are no longer avoided – they have become part of a strategy.People in Gaza are dying – of hunger, due to the lack of medical care. Others, among them hostages, are dying under rocket fire and drone attacks. Victims of war and violence – and the empathy we feel for them – must never be instrumentalised. This applies to the Middle East, to Ukraine, and to all those other regions that currently receive far less media attention: Afghanistan, Haiti, the Congo, Myanmar, Sudan, or Western Sahara.

As a public institution, we are part of a public sphere that is confronted with these challenges – and that, at times, makes mistakes. We see our purpose in creating spaces of encounter and encouraging dialogue. This also entails a responsibility: to define boundaries where respectful discourse is violated or undermined. Hate speech, incitement, racism, antisemitism, anti-Muslim sentiment and any form of discrimination have no place at the Zürcher Theater Spektakel. At the same time – and especially in light of the complexity of ongoing conflicts – we believe it is both necessary and essential that we, as a cultural institution and as a society, learn to hold contradictions and ambiguities, to uphold freedom of expression and artistic freedom, and to ensure that the conversation continues. This ongoing exchange forms the very foundation for international encounters at this festival.

Zurich, July 2025