"to jump into the abyss, only to resurface"*

November 2011: On the one hand, the euro, the European Union, indeed the entire global economy, are threatened with a crisis of indefinable magnitude, climate change appears to be unrestrainable, and the news warns daily of unpredictable "market reactions". On the other, the Occupy movement is attracting
keen interest, the debate on civic participation has been reopened, and North Africa and the Near East are in a state of flux. Might these be areas of hope?

True, we live in an ultra-complex, crisis-ridden world, and no one knows just where the coming months and years will take us. This is the background against which we planned the 2012 programme for the Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts. This year’s motto, "to jump into the abyss, only to resurface", is intended in two senses. It refers to the current social and political situation, in which many people have
the feeling that they are hovering on the brink of disaster. It is also, however, a metaphor for artistic production, which always involves taking a plunge, in the hope of resurfacing immediately. At the Summer Academy, the course structure provides a safety net that offers participants the opportunity of plumbing the depths, of treading new ground and embarking on new ventures.

* after Milena Dragicevic