In its first year, Salon Populaire followed two thematic threads, which evolved from the composition of the project itself. On the one hand, we were interested in current conceptions and the handling of space, which have given important impulses to the content and the formal direction of the salon. Out of this, we developed preliminary key questions that deal with the production conditions in the arts and in other fields: Which and where are the spaces for thinking and presenting art today? What do they look like? Which (social) functions can they perform? In which way do they inscribe themselves into urban space?
The second topic, Love, emerged from of the social function of the salon. Personal and/or private bonds form a natural part of the art system today. The division between private and professional is even less possible here than in other fields, or perhaps it is even unwanted. Dealing with these relationships is problematic insofar as they are an immanent part of the exploitation logic in the capitalist system, and thus are automatically purposeful. In the salon, we followed the thesis that love nevertheless and still has the transforming (and maybe the revolutionary) potential to break open the rigid polarity of advantage vs.profit and pure disinterestedness, and that the basic principles of solidarity, support, care and trust, which come along with love, are preconditions for meaningful working and living.
