Arts & Culture at EFA26

A hand uses a palette knife to apply paint, creating abstract shapes and lines on a canvas.

At EFA26, the Arts and Culture programme challenges you to discover something new: a captivating collision of musical worlds across time and place, an artistic perspective on complex societal and political questions, bold contemporary music by female composers, theatre as a path towards asking important questions and more.

In Alpbach, art becomes a melting pot for human encounters, from around the world and across generations. Artistic multiplicity is one of the many ways Europe wins.

Highlights

Two ensembles from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (KUG) – WAGA and PPCM – bring classical masterpieces alongside visionary contemporary music to Alpbach. Two concerts invite you to take a moment to pause, reflect, and feel the transformative power of music. Expect to cross paths with the musicians again as the Conference Days unfold. 
 
Three exhibitions transform Alpbach into a gallery where art becomes a language for engaging complex topics differently: Humans in Transit, curated by Médicins Sans Frontières, gives a voice to over 300 people who fled to Europe through Libya; Wonders in the Shadows, hosted by the Forum Alpbach Network (FAN), tackles how joy can blossom even in the most devastated conflict zones; Drawing lines creates an unexpected dialogue between young contemporary artists from Estonia and South Tyrol. 

NENDA brings her unmistakable energy to the Loggia: European Echoes – Celebrate Europe Together supported by the European Commission, lights up the sky over Alpbach followed by a night of dancing and DJ sets. 
 
The artist residency, supported by Artistic Freedom Initiative, features musician and designer Soraya Hossaini, who introduces you to a surprising blend of Afghan traditional music and rock, and develops her work throughout the duration of EFA26.  

A concert in the church of Alpbach with light installations.

A concert in the church of Alpbach at the EFA25.

NENDA. (c)Suna Films

Soraya Hossaini, Artist in Residence

Students of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art perform standing on chairs outside.

A performance of students of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the EFA25

Drawing lines. An exhibition curated by Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova.

two participants look at a wall of paintings of the exhibition.

The exhibition Humans In Transit supported by Médicins Sans Frontières. (c)MSF

Discover the Arts & Culture programme at EFA26

WAGA Ensemble from KUG

The WAGA Ensemble from KUG presents masterpieces from the classical music repertoire, highlighting the enduring power of music as a form of dialogue across time, cultures, and generations. 

From the great works of the classical tradition to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, the programme reflects the idea that cultural exchange and shared experiences are essential foundations for a connected Europe. 

In the intimate setting of Alpbach’s church, these timeless works become a space for encounter, reflection, and connection, reminding us of music’s unique ability to bring people together.

To the session.

PPCM Ensemble

The PPCM Ensemble from the branch Performance Practice in Contemporary Music at KUG brings rare gems of contemporary music to Alpbach: groundbreaking works by composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, with a focus on influential female voices that have transformed the way we listen, think, and experience music. 

The programme reveals the diversity and creative power of contemporary composition, presenting works that challenge conventions, expand musical horizons, and open new perspectives on sound and expression.

To the session.

NENDA

NENDA brings her unmistakable energy to the Loggia with “European Echoes – Celebrate Europe Together”, a special evening supported by the European Commission. The event will be opened by European Commissioner Magnus Brunner and celebrates Europe through music, connection, and shared experiences. 

Especially aimed at the young participants of the European Forum Alpbach, the event brings together people from across the world through performance, community, and celebration. 

NENDA’s powerful sound, blending English lyrics and Tyrolean dialect, explores questions of identity, belonging, and heritage. 

The evening continues with DJ sets and a night of dancing, inviting participants to meet, connect, and celebrate together. 

Soraya Hossaini

Soraya Hossaini, Artist in Residence supported by AFI, brings the rich sounds of Afghan traditional music to the Loggia for an intimate sunset concert surrounded by the landscape of Alpbach. Performing on the rubab, Afghanistan’s national instrument, she explores the depth and beauty of a musical heritage shaped by centuries of tradition. 

Through a unique interplay of traditional melodies and contemporary harmonies and rhythms, her performance creates a dialogue between past and present, offering a captivating journey across cultures and generations. 

To the session. 

Brilliant young actors from RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, return to Alpbach to bring a fresh artistic perspective to the conversations shaping our present and future. 

Through theatre, they explore how performance can transform the way we engage with complex questions around climate, democracy, security, and other challenges facing society today. 

Their work connects artistic expression with interdisciplinary dialogue, inviting audiences to challenge assumptions, see familiar questions from different angles, and imagine new possibilities for the future of Europe.

Soraya Hossaini will hold an artist residency in Alpbach thanks to Artistic Freedom Initiative. The Afghan musician and designer will spend time working on her projects, share her music and insights on her journey and artistic practice.  

Humans in Transit (supported by Médicins Sans Frontières)

Humans in Transit brings together over 300 portraits and testimonies of people whose migration journeys to Europe led them through Libya. Brought to EFA26 by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the exhibition centres lived experiences that are often absent from public discourse. 

Through textile installations and film, it invites reflection on migration, dignity, and solidarity, contributing to EFA’s conversations on shaping a more humane and resilient Europe. 

The exhibition will be accompanied by an opening talk featuring one of the four artists, Barley Tshibanda, alongside experts from the fields of humanitarian work and migration policy.

To the session. 

Drawing lines. Curated by Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova

South Tyrol and Estonia have both been shaped by the great changes of the twentieth century. Each began the century as part of a larger, many-peopled state, and each was reshaped as borders shifted around it.

A border region is rarely a place where clear identities meet along a clean line. It is a place where belonging is layered, shared between languages, and reluctant to be pinned down. 

Drawing Lines brings together contemporary artists from the two regions and invites the viewer to consider what can be learned from places that have lived with change, with more than one story, and with the consequences that followed. 

Wonders in the Shadows. Photography by Mattia Bidoli, hosted by Club Alpbach Tirol and other members of the FAN

Wonders in the Shadows is a photographic exhibition by humanitarian worker, photographer, and magician Mattia Bidoli. Hosted by Club Alpbach Tirol and other members of the Forum Alpbach Network (FAN), it offers an intimate glimpse into human lives shaped by conflict zones, refugee camps, and other humanitarian settings. 

Bidoli's images capture moments where hardship and wonder coexist, revealing how small acts of joy and human connection can persist even in the face of war and displacement. 

The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on resilience, empathy, and the enduring strength of the human spirit.

Four interdisciplinary sessions explore the intersections of art, cultural policy, and sustainability. 

Artist Talk with Mario Mu

The Croatian artist and filmmaker, fresh from his ERSTE Stiftung artist residency at MQ Vienna, presents his latest works and invites audiences into an open dialogue about his artistic practice.

Dialogue in Motion

Culture as a Soft Power: The final event in the EFA365 series – a collaboration between EFA, the Charlemagne Prize Foundation, and Stiftung Zukunft Berlin – examines the role of art and culture as instruments of soft power and international relations.  

To the session. 

Art & Third Places

A Stroll through Alpbach Exploring how Art Can Create “Good Places”: Austrian artist Rainer Prohaska brings FUTURAMA LAB’s practice of regeneration and reuse to Alpbach, transforming the village into a site for experimentation and exploring how Third Places can be reimagined for the benefit of local communities.  

To the session.

Cross-Innovation and the Arts: Leveraging the Improbable

The Cross-Innovation session by De Structura explores the intersection of innovation and art. Innovation that stays within a single discipline, drawing on the same skills and the same assumptions, produces incremental results. The real breakthroughs emerge where unlike fields collide, with the arts remaining the most underused partner. As AI makes the probable abundant, the improbable – the territory artists are trained to explore – becomes a scarce resource. 

Monday, 31.08., 15:30, Loggia

The Art Container project, supported by Niederstätter, returns to Alpbach! This ongoing artistic initiative visually reimagines the exterior of the quiet room container for rest, reflection, and recharging. 

Developed by artist Rainer Prohaska and realised in collaboration with artist Esther Stern, the project explores how temporary spaces can foster moments of pause and wellbeing within public environments.

As part of a longer-term artistic process, the project will continue to evolve and return in an expanded form at EFA27. 

The Into the Silence format opens a spiritual space to speakers of the EFA. They share personal experiences, inspiring stories, and thought-provoking reflections.We welcome voices from diverse religious and philosophical traditions. 

Their contributions invite participants to slow down, explore new perspectives, and discover sources of strength, confidence, and meaning, sometimes through the interpretation of significant texts from their own traditions. 

More about the EFA26 programme

Programme