Dear All,
The transition from one year to the next can be a hectic time, with schedules filling up and to-do lists growing longer. In the hustle, deadlines can sometimes slip past us.
Luckily, IFTR 2025 is offering another chance for those who missed the submission deadline but still wish to visit Cologne from June 9–13, 2025, and get their mind around carnivalesque, metamorphosis, ecstasy, and subversion.
The submission deadline has been extended to 22 January 2025. There are still 5 days to submit your contributions, and we look forward to welcoming them!
CC: The late Gothic tower of Cologne's historical City Hall is adorned with more than 130 stone statues. One carving is particularly famous: the "Platz-Jabbeck," a wooden grimace that opens its mouth and sticks out its tongue with every chime of the tower clock. However, the lesser-known statue of Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden (1198/1205 – 1261) is the true curiosity. His depiction is quite formal and signifies him as a canon of the old Cathedral. But a closer look reveals an obscene figure hidden beneath his statue. This figure not only displays its buttocks but also performs an act of ‘autofellatio’. The reasons behind this provocative composition are not empirically proven. According to former city conservator Dr. Ulrich Krings, such motifs were popular: "It was about showing one's backside to the authorities. With crude, ostentatious sexuality, people wanted to demonstrate that they didn’t care about the moral or even the societal rules imposed by the authorities." As Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (KStA) adds: “Such mocking commentaries were indeed tolerated by the state authorities—in this case, the Cologne City Council—much like what occurs during Carnival.”
FOW: The elegant drawing by Umberto Brunelleschi (1879–1949), an Italian costume designer and illustrator, depicts a slender, youthful Harlequin in a liminal in-between state: he parts the curtain and gazes at the imaginary stage scenery behind him. Through his gesture and gaze, he invites the viewer to step into the magical realm of the theatrical world. (Gerald Köhler)
We hope that our newsletter serves a similar purpose to Brunelleschi’s Harlequin: gently parting the curtain to reveal what the IFTR 2025 has to offer. With the extended deadline, we warmly invite you to step onto the stage and enter the magical realm of the carnivalesque.
Enes Türkoglu
for the Cologne Team