[spectre] Fw: Kunstradio to be axed?

[Andreas Broeckmann]

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*From:* oe1.service at orf.at <oe1.service at orf.at>
*Sent:* Friday, October 7, 2022 7:55 AM
*To:* Tom Sherman <twsherma at syr.edu>
*Subject:* AW: Kunstradio to be axed?


Dear Mr. Sherman,

thank you for your e-mail and your appreciation of the Ö1 programme, 
especially the „Kunstradio“ format. We have informed the responsible 
departments of your feedback.

Due to increased inflation and energy pricing, the ORF is forced to 
implement austerity measures starting 2023, several of which are going 
to affect Ö1. Specific details are currently being discussed internally, 
with results expected during the coming weeks.

The objective is to fulfill our public service obligation within the Ö1 
programme in a way that is valuable and diverse, while at the same time 
focusing on the time zones that are most relevant to our listeners.

Kind regards
Patricia Petzl

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*Von:*Tom Sherman <twsherma at syr.edu>;
*Gesendet:* 06.10.2022 18:07:07
*An:* Thurnher Ingrid Dir. - HD <ingrid.thurnher at orf.at>;Bernhofer 
Martin Dr. - HO 1 <martin.bernhofer at orf.at>;Ö1 Service - ORF-K 
<oe1.service at orf.at>;
*CC:*
*Betreff:* Kunstradio to be axed?

October 5, 2022

Dear Ingrid Thurnher and Martin Bernhofer at Austrian National Radio, ORF:

Can it be that Kunstradio-Radiokunst is being threatened with 
extinction?! This is grave news for all those who believe in the future 
of radio and for Austria itself. Kunstradio is more than radio program 
celebrating the art of radio, it is a worldwide space of creative 
freedom to continually expand the boundaries of art in this wireless era.

Extinguishing this space will be a blow to the evolution of radio as an 
artform worldwide. The ORF is a sophisticated radio network and the 
voice of creative Austria. Austria is so important for its rich cultural 
history, its music, literature, its theatre. The world looks to Austria 
for its historic accomplishments, but Kunstradio is a leading force in 
contemporary sonic art. It is Austria’s future, its vision, its 
leadership in art and radio.

Heidi Grundmann was a visionary producer when she founded Kunstradio. 
She was passionate about radio’s future as an art form. She knew that 
radio would be at the heart of the telecommunications era of the late 
20^th Century and well into the 21^st Century. She understood that radio 
was not a historic, limited old medium but that it would be the base of 
the digital multimedia future we now live in. Radio would be sonic in 
new ways and visual and informationally the richest reflective medium of 
the human condition. Kunstradio was a beautiful space that was built to 
last, a ‘channel’ for invention, ideas and sensations. It was not a 
radio program about art, it was a program where artists made art 
themselves. Heidi was as critical and demanding as she was open-minded. 
The curatorial standards governing the invention and joy of Kunstradio 
have been maintained and reborn again and again through Elisabeth 
Zimmermann’s ongoing production of Kunstradio.

Slamming shut this beautiful wide-open Kunstradio space will darken the 
lives of thousands of artists and listeners and will signal to the world 
that Austrian radio will no longer be the voice of a progressive, 
optimistic, enlightened forward-looking Austria. Please reconsider the 
decision to extinguish the flow of international innovative 
experimentation with the future of radio and art that is Kunstradio. 
Kunstradio is an important organism within the ecology of the ORF that 
should not face extinction. Kunstradio is the hope in this world of 
memory and hope. Memory is important, but hope is what will come to be. 
Kunstradio looks forward essentiallyfor so many of us.

Respectfully,

Tom Sherman


Canada’s Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Art, laureate, 2010,

International Commissioner, 42^nd Venice Biennale, Italy, 1986,

Professor Emeritus, Video Art and Media Art History, Department of Film 
and Media Art, Syracuse University, New York, USA

P.S. I have been privileged and delighted to work with Heidi Grundmann 
and Elisabeth Zimmermann on scores of broadcasts on Kunstradio and the 
ORF from 1983 to the present. Much of this radio work was authored with 
Viennese composer, musician and media artist Bernhard Loibner through 
our recording and broadcasting duo, Nerve Theory. In all cases my art 
gained in status through my association with and international exposure 
through Kunstradio and the ORF. Kunstradio opened up many other radio 
venues for me in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, 
Brazil, Canada and the US. Working in radio through Kunstradio in 
Austria has elevated my art internationally. I am deeply indebted to 
Kunstradio and the ORF for my development and accomplishments as an artist.



Tom Sherman, Professor Emeritus
Video and Media Theory
Syracuse University
Department of Film and Media Arts
102 Shaffer Art
Syracuse, New York 13244-1210
U.S.A.

twsherma at syr.edu