Main Theme and Sections: AFO for 2019 and Myths Surrounding It

Myths have always been part of our civilisations. It would be wrong to connect them only with tales and legends about the origins of the world, the deities and celestial heroes. From time immemorial, the humankind has used myths in order to explain the principles of Earth and incomprehensible phenomena, but also to hide or support a specific truth. It often happens that some myths are deeply embedded in our minds and become the one and only truth. In today’s post-factual time sated with information of all kinds, the concept of the myth is once again extremely relevant. Myths are all around us and influence our perception of the world. AFO 2019 will thus combine social and natural sciences not only in order to reveal many myths but also to explain the importance of mythical narration for our society.

MYTH is the main and dominant non-competition section; however, there are five more sections for the audience to choose from. One of them is PROPAGANDA, the perfect tool for spreading myths and manipulating the human mind and knowledge. In retrospect, it is easy to identify and condemn it as we did with the fascist and communist regimes of the 20th century. But, how to fight against propaganda which supports an ideology in which we are currently living? A different time calls for different propaganda tools and the dominant social classes are quick to adopt them. This section closely examines the former and current tools of manipulation in an effort to arm the audience with critical thinking which helps us to defend against them.

Still ongoing myth of the submissive women as caregivers will be cracked in the WOMAN WARRIORS section. It will lead us throughout history and geography seeking to discover strong women. Those who confronted the conventions and managed to break out from the pigeonhole created for them by the society. While woman fighters, protectors or leaders do not represent marginal gender category which is even today often pushed into completely different roles. The ORIGINS OF ART section will deal with the inception rather than a downfall.  It puts forward a tricky question – Where does the human desire and need to express oneself creatively come from? Together we will explore the early beginning of artistic expressions of our civilisation and perhaps reveal why reception and creation of works of art still continue to fascinate and attract us.

We will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 crew’s mission in the MOON section. One of the key events of the 20th century has been shrouded in a number of myths over the five decades. Our aim is to disprove these rumours with factual information. We want to celebrate the heroes who were instrumental in this great leap for mankind.  We will also explore how the flights to the Moon look today. The last section entitled HIDDEN HISTORY abandons the dominant interpretation of history. The good old saying “history is written by victors” also implies that the losers were silenced and their interpretation of our history will be inevitably forgotten. It’s these “losers”, the overshadowed historical events, the hidden national traumas and taboos which will be the heroes of this section.

Stay tuned! These are the real sections awaiting you at AFO54. Joins us on our journey of discovery and let April be once again led by the Watch&Know motto.

AFO54 PROGRAMME SECTIONS AFO54 VISUAL IDENTITY