What If Soft Power Is the Edge Before Utopia?

The term ‘soft power’ demands a second, closer look. Traditionally, it describes a strategy of expanding influence, a form of cultural export that operates without the coercive force this world has seen too many times, yet still follows political agendas. It works in two directions: shaping how a culture presents itself outwardly and how it understands itself from within, creating identification and persuasion dressed in spectacle. But what happens when we understand ‘soft’ as collective, and ‘power’ as something shared rather than a tool of representation, neither asserting nor convincing, but inviting? Perhaps then the status quo can be turned on its head, making room not for one idea, but for a multitude of possibilities that allow us to imagine and rehearse different modes. Soft Power festival creates such a space and turns it into an attitude, bringing exhibitions, performances, music, conversations and shared meals together in one open Gesamtkunstwerk.

NM Can power ever be soft?

AS I’m convinced that power needs to change register – away from hierarchical, dominating structures, towards forms that build connection and creative possibility instead of control. Soft Power is an attitude: transformative, without being dominating.

PIERRE JORGE GONZALEZ I think it’s soft when it comes from a truly democratised society, when a lot of people share this power. It’s not pyramidal and doesn’t come down to one person, who is usually a man. In France, we have this saying, contre-pouvoir, a kind of counter-power. It’s an active space behind power, a vigilance that checks the forces in place.

AS Within Soft Power, we understand art as a collec- tive practice. Together with co-curator María Inés Plaza, we’ve developed a curatorial choreography, a progression from Arriving → Listening → Remembering → Imagining → Coming Together → Hosting → Ritualising → Resonating → Celebrating → Becoming. It’s about creating spaces that propose another way of operating, gathering and exerting influence.

NM Why is this idea important right now?

AS We’re living through a moment shaped by the global rise of authoritarian and nationalist forces and the erosion of soft power as states have traditionally used it, as a tool of cultural diplomacy. That’s why I think the term is worth reclaiming: not as an instrument of state power, but as a collective, creative practice. Berlin remains powerful because of its cultural landscape and creative depth. What interests me is reactivating and redirecting that potential — towards encounter, dialogue and resonance, on a larger scale.

NM Pierre Jorge, as a designer whose practice is in architecture, scenography and lighting, how does the concept of soft power translate into space and material?

PJG We have a way of working that tries to be honest and clear. Many people call it minimal, but it’s not really about minimalism or restraint. It’s about finding the right resources for each project and achieving as much as pos- sible with as little as possible. Instead of building some- thing complex, we put things together simply and reduce the amount of intervention. Light is important because it creates materiality. It shapes how you perceive a space. At Haus der Visionäre, the space is already beautiful, so covering it wouldn’t make sense. The approach is to work with it, using transparent or translucent materials. It’s an industrial building where natural light comes from the north, so there is no direct sunlight, which is ideal for art. Where artificial lighting is added, it can become part of the piece and resonate with the artwork and the building’s structure.

NM This SLEEK issue is produced with the idea of curiosity in mind. What keeps you two curious?

AS I feel like the festival itself reflects a curious mind and an open heart: it brings so many elements together in unexpected ways. We want to explore how we can encounter art, design, sound and each other differently. It’s a privilege to work alongside thinkers and creatives from other disciplines – it expands what curation and hosting mean to me.

PJG Today you hear the word dystopia a lot, moving towards a dystopian society. What Anahita is creating pushes the community more towards a utopia. This is what creates curiosity: to see how far you can push that and then push again.

NM I think what you’ve both spoken about is imagining something that isn’t something we already have just with a new design. What you’re proposing seems to be about remixing things. It’s not new, but I think we’ve forgotten that we can do it

NM You speak of Gesamtkunstwerk, which I find quite fitting for all the things you are putting together. Soft Power is planned to become something continuous. How do you envision it developing?

AS The idea is for it to become a biennial festival, so the next edition will take place in 2028. From the start, it was clear that this isn’t a one-off event, but something that develops over time – its curatorial, spatial and conceptual language evolving with each edition. Community has time to develop, edition after edition, and that long-term collaboration gives it real weight. We have more than 100 artists from visual art and music, alongside thinkers and curators, for this first edition – forming the broader Soft Power family.

NM And why not think utopian?

PJG I love that. Yes to utopia.