Festival opening on 13 June 2025 at the Stadttheater Baden: The welcome address to the festival guests by Silvia Lammerhuber, the festival’s commercial director, was followed by a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of Graz. Festival director Lois Lammerhuber then presented the festival programme: 33 exhibitions will be on display until 12 October 2025 under the title ‘Australia & The New World’. In addition, particularly touching moments were dedicated to the memory of the doyenne of Austrian photography Christine de Grancy and the Brazilian photographer of the century Sebastião Salgado, as well as to the topic of me/cfs.
From left to right, the opening committee and the festival photographers: Alfred Seiland, Herbert Frei, Dieter and Isolde Bornemann, Matthew Werner (Deputy Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Austria), Florence Drouhet, Lois Lammerhuber, Christoph Kainz (Member of the Lower Austrian Parliament, representing Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner), Silvia Lammerhuber, Beate Jorda, Frédéric Joureau (First Counsellor at the French Embassy in Austria), Hans-Jürgen Burkard, Carmen Jeitler-Cincelli (Mayor of the municipality of Baden, Member of the Austrian National Council), Christian Pehofer (District Administrator of Baden), Christian Schörg, Anne Zahalka, Vivian Dalles, Georg Steinmetz, Bobbi Lockyer, Ulla Lohmann, Johanna Reithmayer, Markus Eisl, Adam Ferguson, Gaël Turine.
‘The festival is now open.’
The series of opening speeches was kicked off by Ian Biggs, Australian Ambassador to Austria, followed by Matthew Werner, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Austria, and Matthieu Peyraud, First Counsellor at the French Embassy in Austria. After speeches by Mayor Carmen Jeitler-Cincelli and Member of the Lower Austrian Parliament Christoph Kainz – representing Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner – the festival was officially opened by the opening committee – Florence Drouhet, Lois Lammerhuber, Christoph Kainz, Silvia Lammerhuber, Beate Jorda, Frédéric Joureau, Carmen Jeitler-Cincelli, Christian Pehofer and Christian Schörg, as well as the exhibiting photographers, declared the festival open with the words ‘The festival is now open’.
„With the photo festival, Baden will once again be transformed into a lively open-air gallery that touches, inspires and provokes thought. Our city is the perfect place to host this unique cultural event. The diversity of its people, their opinions, experiences and vision create the intellectual framework. The sophisticated atmosphere of our parks and city centre provide the perfect backdrop for bringing people from near and far to our beautiful city.“ This is how the mayor of Baden summed up the energy that this festival radiates in her opening speech.
‘The Photo Concert’
The crowning finale was the opening concert by the Beethoven Spring Festival Orchestra conducted by Dorothy Khadem Missagh. Photographs from the festival were projected onto a huge screen to accompany Aaron Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring Suite’. Enthusiastic applause.
