If there is one thing the past year has shown, it is that the grotesque inequalities on this planet – whether social, ecological, or political – cannot be sustained. What seemingly began as a health emergency, with COVID-19, is rather an intertwining of environmental, social, economic, and political crises – and part of a global crisis of equity and of care. Many fundamental vulnerabilities are rendered in a glaring clarity that can no longer be ignored by even the most privileged. Our global interdependence and individual fragility dissolve the narrative of independence that we have grown accustomed to believing in. We feel that the world as we know it could collapse dramatically, although we do not know when or how exactly. 

Many of us are still processing these shock waves, and are only just beginning to grasp the full extent of their ramifications. Dissonance across experiences exists too, as many people remain ambivalent, passively waiting for a »return to normal« – while others have found benefits in the new pace and structure of their lives. We tend to focus on the catastrophic and attention-grabbing, while it’s clear that success stories, initiatives of solidarity, and positive changes continue to appear in times of crisis. What might the various fractures in realities tell us about the future we need to envision? Can we seize this critical opportunity in order to make some necessary changes – or will we collectively continue to accelerate blindly towards abysses already in sight? 

As cliché as it might sound, the only credible path is taking concrete steps, be they big or small, towards far-reaching transformation. The way there asks us to seek new consciousness, new (role) models, new identities, and new consensuses. Transformation is not necessarily a revolution. It is not a violent and total break with the present, but rather a process of change that reinforces, expands, and unfolds approaches that already exist. Black Lives Matter, Fridays for Future, and many other socio-political and ecological movements show the diversity of existing impulses for change, but also that they are largely bottom-up. Many of the strongest, most urgent ideas and proposals come from those who have little choice, those who are not recognised (enough), those who are exposed and vulnerable to discrimination and violence. 

Art and music can amplify a multitude of voices and provide a laboratory in which we can imagine alternative practices. They have always aimed at transformation, reshaping forms, experiences, practices, identities, and collectivity. Yet, music and art worlds must also ask themselves how inequality and exploitation are inscribed in their own structures. How can structural inequalities rooted in systemic racism, colonial continuities, sexism, classism, neoliberalism, and other axes be challenged in our scenes? How can we make meaningful contributions to climate protection while still bringing people from different parts of the world together – and how is this possible amidst an industry (and society) predicated on exponential, never-ending growth? How can we work towards a music scene in which opportunities for design, representation, and earnings are fairly distributed? How can we approach the non-neutrality of technologies to shape them as tools of empowerment rather than of manipulation and homogeneity? How might the quality of experience take precedence over the rapid consumption of spectacles and the profit generated? How can we use our work to strengthen mutual concern and the common good instead of remaining steadfast in internalised individualised competition? How can we recognise our differences and develop new ways of being together, despite many existing injuries and divides?

CTM 2021 explores our collective response/ability. Together we aim to discuss and experiment with these and other questions as part of a festival edition that will diverge significantly from its previous iterations. The near future remains unpredictable – whether or not (and how) long-distance travel, coming together IRL, concerts, and live performances will be possible. Smaller events, durational or process-based works, and other artistic formats leaning away from large, punctual gatherings will be intertwined with online format in a hybrid festival format, in hopes of enabling physical-sensual experience where feasible, while continuing translocal exchange. We will no doubt emerge from this experience transformed.