Although it hasn’t been easy, we did our best to use this time to re:flect, re:cognize and re:grow. Again, we want our beloved Artlake Festival to act as a space and platform where we can come together to shape, create, participate. The pandemic has taught us once more how important solidarity, community cohesion and social interaction are and how we can come back even stronger, re:united.

That’s also why the upcoming festival edition will be held under the topic “re:pair”. The "re" refers to reconnection, emphasizing what used to be there and going back to that state of connectedness. And "pair" is a reference to strong alliance/cohesion.

The derivation comes from the Japanese word "Kintsugi"

Kintsugi (golden joinery) describes the Japanese method of repairing something broken with gold, after which something much more valuable/beautiful than before is created.

We want to reconnect what’s been broken apart and create spaces of re:interaction and re:flection.

We will also be displaying this overarching theme within our eights LABS*: body, climate, create, identity, internet, europe, truth and resistance. But not only in workshops, talks, panels and movies – also within installations and exhibitions. There are a lot of unsettling events occurring in our society worldwide that may be far away but still extremely relevant or just outside the door but often overlooked – now more than ever is it important to address crucial topics and transition from talking into taking action.

Let’s get creative, unite powers, support each other where people are starting to loose will or hope and pull each other back up again.