(D/ARTS) – PART II
This is Part II of the Interview. The entire interview can be found here.
Zuzana Ernst & Golnar Shahyar (c) Regina Fisch/Austrian Music Export
May 31, 2022 / local news, news, portraits/interviews What if we told you that there could be a centralized office which connects nearly all of the activist efforts in the cultural sector in Austria, providing general and targeted support, resources, services, workshops and networking scenarios for members and the community at large? And what if we told you: it’s already here.
D/ARTS – PROJECT OFFICE FOR DIVERSITY AND URBAN DIALOGUE is reaching the end of its first two years and has quite a lot to show for itself already. Emerging from a glaring void in the arts and cultural scene in Austria, D/Arts has arrived – with many hats to wear, shoes to fill, and requests to juggle. As part of the network of alliances they’re building, musician, composer and singer extraordinaire, GOLNAR SHAHYAR has been an integral part of the process, with both her expertise in music, as well as her personal, ongoing fight for anti-discrimination practices and inclusion in the music scene. For these reasons and more, Arianna Fleur Alfreds sat down with one of the founding members of D/Arts, ZUZANA ERNST and GOLNAR SHAHYAR to discuss the major challenges, pitfalls and speed bumps that exist in the Austrian music and cultural scene, as well as the changes and solutions that a better future could entail.