Entitled The Power of Wonder – Astonishment as a Driving Force for Community Building, the 2023 Forum devoted itself to astonishment as a motor of thought and its relevance for democratic processes: shared wonder as a wake-up call, as a boundary experience, as an instrument of analysis, and as a bridge between sensation and realisation.
Musical contributions alternated with keynotes, performances, artistic interventions, and open rounds of talks.
Visitors and participants alike were encouraged to think and discuss together in amazement from the perspectives of the visual arts, music, literature, the humanities, and the natural sciences.
The musical program curated by musicologist Morten Solvik was performed by the ensemble of the Alma Mahler Musikverein under the direction of Alja Klemenc and by students of and graduates from the Gustav Mahler Private University for Music.

Through her performance Medium: Theremin Orchestra on July 8, Pamelia Stickney elicited sound from the → artistic installation Lampenfieber by Anna Jermolaewa, co-curated by Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein and section.a.
Visitors to the Composing Hut and passers-by are warmly invited to elicit sound from Lampenfieber by Anna Jermolaewa between July and October 2023.

As a partner of the Mahler Forum, the → kärnten.museum is presenting the video installation Singing Revolution by Anna Jermolaewa at the center.stage from July to October 2023, daily at 5 pm.