‘MAY DAYS 2021’

BOZAR traditionally dedicates the month of May to Europe. This year, on 9 May, the continent will be celebrating the anniversary of the Schumann Declaration, one of the founding texts of modern-day Europe. During May Days, BOZAR and its partners will organise a series of debates, conferences and meetings to discuss a number of pressing issues at the core of today’s society. We will focus on freedom of the press in Europe and elsewhere, with particular emphasis on women journalists. We will discuss mobility, a key concern for major urban centres. An additional topic concerns the European Union’s future at a time when the health crisis has often shown the limits of solidarity between its members. There will be an undoubtedly passionate debate on the place of monuments that were erected to glorify individuals who supported colonialism and the conquest or negation of others. The place of the LGBTI+ community in Europe will be debated at a time when it is facing a new wave of ostracization and violence in a number of European countries. The events will also include a unique conversation between two major contemporary writers, Alain Damasio and Erri de Luca, who, each in their own way, highlight the alienation and social violence that individuals undergo when exercising their freedom. 

This year, if permitted due to the health crisis, BOZAR will invite the speakers to the Centre for Fine Arts and organise a second edition of Mayday Magazine.