We will meet where there is no darkness – Opening speech 23/24

“What happens when the ceiling of civilization becomes thinner and thinner and even collapses? We have taken less care of the world than we should and less should and also less about ourselves. We might as well call our troubles just call it hate.”

The Scottish author A. L. Kennedy is one of the most important contemporary British writers. She is known not only for her excellent novels, but also for her sharp observations of British politics and society - including a column in which she covered the Brexit in 2020 for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. In her latest novel, “Als lebten wir in einem barmherzigen Land” (Alive in a Merciful Country, 2023), which will have its world premiere at the Munich Kammerspiele in January, a primary school teacher reaches her moral limits: How well is she herself armed against evil? And to whom is she merciful?

In her exclusive lecture for the Münchner Kammerspiele, Kennedy turns to the polarizations in European societies, and the hatred that operates within them. Through observations on the public sphere, urban planning, art, and civic engagement, she invites us to think about how the spaces of hate could be reduced and sketches out figures of thought for democratic and social counterforces.