Times they are changing. No space for art?
Vienna Peace Conference 2025
S/O Vienna, Conference Space „Marcel Breuer“
December 5, 2025
Programm / Highlights:
• Keynote (Tokyo/Zoom): Masako Wada — Nihon Hidankyō
• Talk & discussion: Members of the art curia and students of the University in Vienna
• Topics: Testimony, memory, responsibility, art in the face of existential threat, relevance to the present day (nuclear umbrella / nuclear sharing)
In times of global tensions and political upheaval, the Vienna Peace Conference 2025 reaffirms its belief in the unifying power of art and thought. The conference brings together voices from the worlds of art and science with an urgent message: Masako Wada (Nihon Hidankyō) spoke live from Tokyo about remembrance, responsibility, and the need to never normalize nuclear violence.
The conversation that followed revolved around a simple, uncomfortable question: What can—and must—art and science do before it is too late?
Moderation: Fabian Sommavilla
Venue: S/O Vienna Hotel
Host: Christian E. Klaus
Special Thanks:
• Office of the Austrian Federal President
• Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport
• Office of State Secretary Sepp Schellhorn
• Austrian Embassy Tokyo
• Austrian Cultural Forum (ACF) Tokyo
• Arno Mitterdorfer, Director of the ACF Tokyo
Communications strategy: Wolfgang Lamprecht
Office art‾curia: Charlotte Sucher
Media: Diana Terenteva (Coop Himmelb(l)au)
Percept: Peter Noever