"Against the grain"
At a special ceremony, the Rector bid farewell to Professor Vogt as he retired after 27 years of teaching and research in cultural policy studies in the “Culture and Management” degree programme
On May 24, 2024, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the Upper Lusatia-Lower Silesia Cultural Region, and the Institute for Cultural Infrastructure in Saxony hosted the conference “Gegen den Strich – Against the Grain: Cultural Policy in History and Contemporary Saxony.” The occasion marked the dual 30th-anniversary celebration of the Saxon Cultural Region Act (1994) and the Institute’s accompanying research and teaching efforts (1994).
Rector Alexander Kratzsch bid farewell to Professor Matthias Theodor Vogt as he retired after 27 years of teaching and research in cultural policy within the culture and management degree programme. State Parliament President Dr. Matthias Rößler, former Minister President , former Minister President Prof. Georg Milbradt, Minister of State Sebastian Gemkow, and Görlitz Mayor Octavian Ursu conveyed their congratulations.
Dr. Stephan Meyer, District Administrator of the Görlitz District, outlined current issues and expectations regarding local cultural policy in Saxony.
External perspectives on Saxony’s cultural policy were provided by Una Sedleniece, a graduate of the “culture and management” program and former State Secretary; Prof. Kimura Goro of Sophia University in Tokyo; Prof. Gregor Vogt-Spira of Marburg; Dr. Róża Zuzanna Różańska from Kraków; Prof. Stefan Garsztecki from Chemnitz University of Technology; Dr. Beate Sibylle Pfeil from the Council of Europe; and Prof. Luigi Ferrara from the University of Naples Federico II.
The conference concluded with a keynote address on the future of cultural regions in Saxony by Prof. Vogt and a discussion titled “30 Years of Cultural Regions in Saxony, ” moderated by Dr. Annemarie Franke, Secretary for Culture of Upper Lusatia-Lower Silesia, with participants from the Saxon State Parliament, the Saxon Cultural Senate, cultural associations, and the Mayor of Zittau, Thomas Zenker.
Benedikt Hummel, the mayor for cultural affairs of the city of Görlitz, delivered the closing remarks as a representative of the “culture and management” program graduates.
The event was streamed live worldwide in German and English; the YouTube recordings in both languages are documented here.
2nd upper floor
