Quo vadis ars?
The situation in the cultural sector has been
described and discussed in numerous interviews, corona diaries,
comments and reports in the past few weeks. Our annotated
collection
of currently 193 sources
gathers voices from different sectors and media.
This creates a picture of the cultural landscape in crisis,
whose temporal transformation can be explored interactively
via a dedicated
tag cloud.
Frankfurter Buchmesse: Was ist das Buch ohne die Menschen?
Frankfurt Book Fair: What would books be without people?
by Felix Stephan (17 Oct 2020)
Original source: Süddeutsche Zeitung
How do you measure the social value of a book? How do you recognize the importance of the Frankfurt Book Fair? Felix Stephan examines these questions based on the debates triggered by the recent Book Fair. Based on Saša Stanišić critique of the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Peter Handke formulated in occasion of his acceptance speech at the awarding ceremony of the German Book Prize, Stephan shows how debates evolve. Suddenly it was no longer about the text itself, but about the foreign secretary Hans-Dietrich Genscher and the role of the Germans in the K osovo war. Such debates are important because they determine the social climate and encourage critical thinking. The starting point is the written text, but it needs the public forum of the Book Fair to unfold its potential.
Such debates cannot arise in the medial silence of the digital book fair. Nevertheless: the book as a commodity is attractive. Even though the Fair is largely taking place online this year, the publishers are not doing badly. The pandemic tempts people to read. In the area of children's and youth literature, sales figures have even risen by 13 percent compared to the same period last year. The large publishing houses are already starting to think about whether a physical stand at the Book Fair is still worthwhile. Expenditure is high, but it is difficult to quantify the successes. The licensing business does not need the fair. So why not decouple the book industry from the public? The example of America shows how profits fizzle out in a vacuum when the book is seen only as a commodity and even mega-bestsellers like Michel Obama's autobiography no longer trigger discussion. According to Felix Stephan, not only would the book lose its role as a leading medium, but our public sphere would lose an important forum for its culture of debate. Read More Read Less
Such debates cannot arise in the medial silence of the digital book fair. Nevertheless: the book as a commodity is attractive. Even though the Fair is largely taking place online this year, the publishers are not doing badly. The pandemic tempts people to read. In the area of children's and youth literature, sales figures have even risen by 13 percent compared to the same period last year. The large publishing houses are already starting to think about whether a physical stand at the Book Fair is still worthwhile. Expenditure is high, but it is difficult to quantify the successes. The licensing business does not need the fair. So why not decouple the book industry from the public? The example of America shows how profits fizzle out in a vacuum when the book is seen only as a commodity and even mega-bestsellers like Michel Obama's autobiography no longer trigger discussion. According to Felix Stephan, not only would the book lose its role as a leading medium, but our public sphere would lose an important forum for its culture of debate. Read More Read Less
tag Buchbranche Buchmesse Leitmedium Debattenkultur Einsparpotential digitale Stille Literature/ Text Bericht
Ein Weiter so wird es nach der Pandemie nicht geben . Literaturagentin Ruge zur Frankfurter Buchmesse
There won't be business as usual after the pandemic . Literary agent Ruge at the Frankfurt Book Fair
by Elisabeth Ruge, Christopher Ricke (13 Oct 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk Kultur
This year, the Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest meeting place for the book trade, will be held primarily in digital form due to the pandemic. Instead of wandering through the corridors of the exhibition halls and meeting colleagues and contract partners, publisher and cultural agent Elisabeth Runge is sitting in front of the screen this year. Here she follows events and conducts negotiations for her authors. She only uses the online platform set up by the Book Fair for the allocation of film rights. All other meetings were organized independently. In an interview with De utschlandfunk Kultur, Runge reports on her impressions of this year's book fair. She criticizes the sterile atmosphere at the German Book Prize awards ceremony, where only the shortlisted nominees were present with two guests each. Otherwise, she praises those responsible for organizing the fair, which has largely shifted to the digital domain. At the same time, she warns that Messe Frankfurt must consider a new concept for the industry meeting in the coming years. For the large publishing houses and corporations in particular, the cancellation of the Book Fair also resulted in huge savings. They will show little interest in returning to the previous form of the fair after the end of the pandemic. There must therefore be an offer here that makes the Fair attractive again for all involved parties.
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tag Buchmesse Buchpreis Rechtehandel Digitalisierung Elisabeth Ruge Streaming virtuelle Präsenz Literature/ Text Interview
Buchhandel setzt auf Digitalpräsenz . Frankfurter Buchmesse ohne Aussteller
Book trade focuses on digital presence . Frankfurt Book Fair without exhibitors
by Alexander Skipis, Britta Bürger (08 Sep 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk Kultur
At a press conference, the director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Juergen Boos, announced the cancellation of the presence fair in the exhibition halls in Frankfurt. The decision was made together with all publishers and representatives of the national booths. In the end, the restrictions, especially the travel restrictions, were too great to adhere to the presence event.
The fair is an important pillar for the book industry. Since a digital offering was also planned from the outset, Alexander Skipis, General Manager of the German Publishers & Booksellers Associ ation (Börsenverein des deutschen Buchhandels), assumes that the presence of books will be maintained. As before, there will also be physical events in Frankfurt where authors can be experienced live.
As a further mainstay, a digital rights trading platform will enable publishers to handle the rights business, which has been important at the fair to date. However, personal exchange will not be possible at this point.
Another important pillar of the Book Fair is intellectual exchange and freedom of opinion and the press. These topics will also be dealt with online and in face-to-face events. Such online offerings will certainly not reach as many readers as a presence fair. The intensive encounter will therefore play a major role in 2021.
The fair is an important pillar for the book industry. Since a digital offering was also planned from the outset, Alexander Skipis, General Manager of the German Publishers & Booksellers Associ ation (Börsenverein des deutschen Buchhandels), assumes that the presence of books will be maintained. As before, there will also be physical events in Frankfurt where authors can be experienced live.
As a further mainstay, a digital rights trading platform will enable publishers to handle the rights business, which has been important at the fair to date. However, personal exchange will not be possible at this point.
Another important pillar of the Book Fair is intellectual exchange and freedom of opinion and the press. These topics will also be dealt with online and in face-to-face events. Such online offerings will certainly not reach as many readers as a presence fair. The intensive encounter will therefore play a major role in 2021.
There will be a series of physical events in Frankfurt. In addition to the award ceremonies - Book Prize and Peace Prize - there will be readings in the festival hall. They will be distributed simultaneously through the media and can be accessed worldwide. Nevertheless, it should not be overlooked that the lack of attention to the book will damage the book market. Sales will probably not really be satisfactory in the autumn of 2020 either.
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