Political discussion about cultural capital management in Bad Ischl
A political discussion was sparked on Sunday about the management of the Capital of Culture “The Originals 2024 – Bad Ischl – Salzkammergut”. In a press release, the ÖVP mayor of the region claimed that the chairman of the supervisory board of the Capital of Culture 2024-GmbH, EU parliamentarian Hannes Heide (SPÖ), wanted to release the artistic director and managing director, Stephan Rabl, from his duties. Heide spoke to the APA of “personal solutions” that he wanted to find.
“The Original 2024” covers 23 municipalities and the two federal states of Upper Austria and Styria. The turquoise local chiefs of Gmunden with Stefan Krapf, Scharnstein with member of the state parliament Rudolf Raffelsberger and Vorchdorf with Gunter Schimpl appealed to the chairman of the supervisory board and red EU politician to “let the employees work on the tasks in peace”. All three expressly praised the work and collaboration with the artistic director. Krapf, also Heide’s deputy on the committee, was “surprised” by the “unrest around Stephan Rabl”.
In an interview with the APA, Hannes Heide defended himself against the allegations. “Rabl is an expert, his experience and skills are beyond discussion,” said the EU politician. However, he confirmed that there are “different points of view with the artistic director”.
Heide was taciturn at a supervisory board meeting scheduled for the coming Friday. “I don’t have a public discussion, I’m for internal processes,” he said. Some “actors” would see a “need for action”, including those submitting projects. In the course of the meeting, they wanted to discuss what a personal solution could look like. He himself could not make a decision in this regard anyway. “I can only make recommendations.”
Rabl himself was not available for comment on Sunday. In this regard, the APA will endeavor to obtain a statement from the artistic director and managing director.