Why are You Creative? By Hermann Vaske

Why Are We Creative?

What makes an idea a good idea? What defines the genius of creative people?

For more than thirty years, filmmaker and author Hermann Vaske has posed these questions to some of the most influential writers, artists, scientists, activists and thinkers of our time. More than 1,000 have responded—some with handwritten notes or short statements, many with drawings or artefacts, some concise, others extensive, some deeply personal, others delightfully bizarre. The Rupertinum presents a selection of the funniest, most surprising and most thought-provoking responses from Hermann Vaske’s unique collection.

The exhibition not only explores what sparks creativity—and how it enriches and advances our world—but also reveals its inherent paradox. Forces that suppress creative thinking—censorship, self-censorship, compromise or prohibition—often become the very conditions from which the most brilliant ideas emerge.

At its core, the exhibition asks a timely and fundamental question:

Can we rely on our creativity—and remain hopeful in the face of the escalating existential crises of our planet?

The Audiovisual Section of the Exhibition

In the exhibition's audiovisual section, Hermann Vaske explores the nature of creativity through conversations and performative videos with Marina Abramović, Vivienne Westwood, David Hockney, Georg Baselitz, Björk, Lilith Stangenberg, Blixa Bargeld, Jeff Koons, Zaha Hadid, Yoko Ono, Oliviero Toscani, Christo, Damien Hirst, Jim Jarmusch, Dennis Hopper, Harvey Keitel, Shirin Neshat, David Bowie and many other leading creative minds of our time.

Together, they reflect not only on the sources of their creativity but also on its "beta blockers"—the forces that inhibit it. Spirituality, sex, money, fear, origin and ambition stand alongside censorship, self-censorship, bureaucracy, compromise, distraction and gatekeepers.

More often than not, it is precisely these obstacles—the very threat to creativity—that become its driving force. A dialectical synthesis of opposites. At a time when overlapping global crises challenge the foundations of our existence, the need for new ideas has never been greater. The exhibition presents creativity in all its dimensions—artistic, intellectual, philosophical and scientific.

About Hermann Vaske

Hermann Vaske is a filmmaker, author and producer. As a director, he has worked with Dennis Hopper, Harvey Keitel and Marina Abramović; as a producer, with Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking and the Dalai Lama. His films have been screened at the film festivals of Venice, Cannes, Toronto and Palm Springs, where they received numerous awards, including the Grimme Prize and the Special Prize of the Venice Television Festival.

For more than thirty years, Vaske has been asking some of the world's most influential creative minds one simple question: "Why Are You Creative?" This ongoing exploration has evolved into his unique Why Are You Creative? film series. Why Are We Creative? premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2018, followed by Why Are We Not Creative? at the Munich Film Festival in 2021. His film Can Creativity Save the World? premiered at the Munich Film Festival in 2023, while Creativo Paradiso: A Creative Renaissance celebrated its premiere at the Lichter Filmfest Frankfurt International in 2025.