By Dr. Nicole Pruckermayr

What are "peaceful streets"? The artist, initiator and curator Nicole Pruckermayr presents the project "Comrade Conrade", which deals with gender representation in public space in Graz.

"Peaceful streets"

What is meant by "peaceful streets"? And how can public spaces be designed in a way that promotes peace? These are the questions addressed by the "Comrade Conrade" project, which sees itself as an art, research and peace project. On the one hand, representation plays a role in the question of what makes public space peaceful or violent, and this is expressed in street names: Who are streets named after and who is represented and how? From the naming of streets, conclusions can be drawn about which actions are valued and honored in our society. Politicians play a major role here as decision-makers and representatives of the people. On the other hand, it is also about the question of how public space is made accessible to different groups of people. This also shows how much potential community-building space a society affords itself in order to be able to cushion future conflicts in advance. Urban and spatial planning, in particular, is required to define the framework conditions. According to geographer and social scientist Doreen Massey, urban spaces are always "coded" in terms of gender. "This ranges from symbolic meanings that are attributed to spaces and that are clearly differentiated by gender, to direct exclusion and marginalization through (the fear of) violence." [ 1] Spaces express the way in which gender relations are constructed and thus influence the experience and understanding of gender. Conversely, they also shape gender images. Social power relations as well as unresolved conflicts and imbalances thus become visible in public spaces. The "Comrade Conrade" project aims to draw attention to this using the example of Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße in Graz.

The warrior and the pacifist: who do we encounter in public space?

For several years now, Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße has been undergoing a massive urban transformation process that will continue to change the face of the city of Graz through various conversion and new construction projects. One part of this process concerns the dispute over the naming of the street after Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf (1852-1925) - Chief of the General Staff for Austria-Hungary and largely responsible for the path to the First World War, the brutal warfare and attacks against civilians.

An initiative - largely originating from the Green Party - aimed to rename the street Bertha-von-Suttner-Straße. Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914) was an Austrian pacifist, peace researcher and writer who was the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905. She lived around the same time as Conrad von Hötzendorf. However, a strong opposition quickly formed in the media debate, which focused on the economic aspects of the name change, whereupon the initiative was dropped. As a result of the failed initiative to rename the street, however, the idea of a community-promoting square in honor of Bertha von Suttner was born. This square is planned as an intergenerational green oasis that invites people to linger and play.

The creation of Bertha von Suttner Square is not only important for peace lovers, but also for those who are interested in the representation of women in public spaces. Of the approximately 52.5 percent of streets named after people in the city of Graz, only around 2.5 percent are named after women. The remaining names go back to field names, street destinations or animal and plant names. At 2.11 percent, the rather rare plant names, for example, almost reach the female quota. As the urban area will not change significantly in the foreseeable future, there are unlikely to be any additional new names.

"COMRADE CONRADE"

The interdisciplinary and multi-year art, research and peace project "COMRADE CONRADE. Democracy and peace on the street" dealt with the state and future of democracy and peace in the Austrian city of Graz, using Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße as an example.

The project began quite small with the author as initiator, but quickly found a large social and media resonance and grew accordingly fast. Around 50 people and institutions from academia, the arts and civil society were involved in the project from 2016 to 2019, ensuring a multidisciplinary and multi-layered approach to the topic. The project included university institutes such as the Center for Jewish Studies, the Institutes of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology and the European Training and Research Center for Human Rights and Democracy at the University of Graz, university of applied sciences courses on urban planning and development, the Women's Service Association, the Institute for Men's and Gender Studies, Lebenshilfe, the District Center, the GrazMuseum, artists and many more.

During the entire project period, five methodologically and content-wise independent discourse platforms were realized. The first level of discourse was a low-threshold, year-round program of ten tours, which focused on the approximately two-kilometre-long street and its surroundings. Different aspects of life in the city were highlighted with the help of the expertise of various contributors. Sociologist Elli Scambor, for example, focused on the different types of masculinity in Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße, while diversity expert Edith Zitz linked the culture of work and business in Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße with urban development perspectives and questions of gender democracy in the tour she designed.

Another project platform consisted of several "art-in-public-space projects", some of which were designed to be participatory and some of which could be viewed and experienced over several months in public urban spaces.

In addition, an international conference lasting several days was held together with the Center for Jewish Studies and the Institute for Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology on the broader topic of "Democracy and Peace on the Street" and was also brought into the local area of the street. Many events took place, especially on the ground, which dealt with daily coexistence and provided space for the wishes of the population.

What remains?

The central methodological element within this project was the low-threshold tours, which created points of contact with the local environment and above all with the population, and which above all are essential for peaceful coexistence. The fact that events on the topic were constantly held throughout the year meant that many people could be reached.

One challenge for the project was to initiate a process of opening up, which is necessary to allow the population to participate but at the same time to maintain a manageable format - with a clearly limited end and defined result. Here it was important to form networks and integrate the various participants into a common framework as self-confident and independent actors. The American author and literary scholar Bell Hooks, who advocates perceiving all addressees as active and independent individuals and bringing different types of knowledge into conversation with each other, was a great inspiration here.[2].

In the planning phase of the project, the focus was on the current state of gender equality in a particular district. Over the course of the project, this focus increasingly expanded so that many other aspects relevant to peace could be addressed. The establishment of peaceful, discursive spaces that enable an objective exchange in heterogeneous groups was central to this. The "Comrade Conrade" project was able to make a significant contribution to building mutual trust between local residents and representatives of politics at district level and the administration. The collected knowledge is now to be brought back into the city in the form of a publication to inspire others to participate in the design of public space.

[1] Massey, Doreen. 1994. "Space, Place and Gender" In: Belina, Bernd / Naumann, Matthias and Anke Strüver (eds.): Handbuch Kritische Stadtgeographie. Münster: Verlag Westfälisches Dampfboot.

[2] hooks, bell. 2010. Teaching Critical Thinking: Critical Wisdom . New York/London: Routledge.