Sasha Waltz and Olafur Eliasson receive Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis
© Phil Dera for DIE ZEIT / Herlinde Koelbl
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Sasha Waltz and Olafur Eliasson receive Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis
The two artists are being honored for reimagining boundaries between the individual and the collective through installation and choreography
What role does art play in sustaining and renewing democracy? This was the question addressed at this year's Helmut Schmidt Zukunftspreis. In May, we celebrated the fourth edition of the award with our partners, DIE ZEIT and the Bundeskanzler Helmut Schmidt Foundation.
This year, we awarded the Zukunftspreis to artists: Sasha Waltz and Olafur Eliasson. Their work is not overtly political, yet it is deeply political in its implications. Both Waltz’s choreography and Eliasson’s installations invite us to inhabit new spaces – physical, emotional, and conceptual – where the boundaries between the individual and the collective are reimagined. Their art does not dictate meaning but invites interpretation, dialogue, and the formation of a pluralistic “we.”
Democracy is not merely a system of governance; it is a lived culture. Its institutions depend on citizens who embody democratic values such as plurality, empathy, respect, and a willingness to listen. These are not abstract ideals; they must be practiced and experienced. Here, art is indispensable. Art works at the sensuous and emotional core of our being, shaping who we are and who we might become. It is through art that we learn to tolerate ambiguity, practice empathy, and imagine new realities – capacities essential for a thriving democratic society.
As we discussed during the Zukunfsfestival (a partner initative with Leuphana Universität Lüneburg), there is a tension between the sensuous experience of art and the pressure to translate it into discourse. In a world dominated by concepts and language, what is lost (and what is gained) when we speak about that which resists words? For Waltz and Eliasson, the political dimension of their work emerges not as a separate agenda, but as an inseparable aspect of their artistic process. Their media – dance, space, light – are not just personal choices, but necessary forms for addressing the challenges of our time.
Art is not a luxury; it is the foundation for democratic imagination and transformation. In an era marked by climate crisis, political extremism, and technological upheaval, we need the sensuous, plural, and imaginative capacities that only art can nurture.
Let us remember: democracy is practiced not only at the ballot box, but in every encounter with art that challenges, connects, and transforms us.
