Gertraud Klemm (c) Bernd Alfanz
With courage and perseverance, kunstGarten continues its Women Empowerment Program:
Farewell to the Phallocene
A DISPUTE
Matthes & Seitz, 2025
The showdown of the Anthropocene seems close: Against the backdrop of the climate crisis and wars, a handful of power-drunk and unscrupulous politicians threaten to drive the world against the wall in an association with ruthless tech billionaires. What do all these actors of unprecedented global power have in common? They are men without exception. If you ignore this white elephant in the room, all activism does not help either, because: It is not man who has the earth in a strangle grip, but the patriarchy! To overcome it would mean facing the coarsest global problems in a bundled way. Slavery, racism, colonialism and imperialism seemed “alternativeless” until recently, but they could be largely reworked because they were exposed: as grievances that are unworthy of the human species. Why shouldn’t the patriarchy succeed?
In her passionate essay, Gertraud Klemm takes matriarchal societies from the past and present as a model for her announcement of the farewell to the Phallocene – a powerful mind game about matriarchal inspiration, patriarchal deconstruction and the need for colonial thrust reversal.
Gertraud Klemm, born in Vienna in 1971, grew up in Baden near Vienna, studied biology and worked until 2005 as a hygienic expert at the city of Vienna. Since then she lives with her family as a freelance author in Pfaffstätten, Lower Austria. She writes novels, plays, guest comments and essays for Austrian newspapers, and gives speeches on the current situation of women’s politics.
INFORMATION
- Please make reservations not later than 2 hours before the programme begins: kunstGarten@mur.at or +43 316 262787
- Price