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.
Zauber der lebenden Bilder . 125 Jahre Kino
The magic of tableaux vivants
by Andreas Busche (28 Dec 2020)
Original source: Tagesspiegel
To mark the anniversary of the first cinema showing on 28 December 1895, cinemas will be closed in almost all countries this year. The industry is therefore not in the mood to celebrate. In the Tagesspiegel, Andreas Busche reflects on the current situation of the industry on the occasion of the anniversary.
A premiere took place at Christmas: Warner and Disney released films without a theatrical release for the first time. The era of the blockbuster is thus coming to an end. Whether the new James Bond will draw audiences to the cinema next year remains open to que stion. In 2020, the combination of streaming services and the pandemic has taken an extreme toll on the industry. Currently, film theatres are only getting through the crisis with state support. This is not only because the film theatre has lost the aura that surrounded it in the early 20th century. At present, instead of euphoria, there is often a sense of mistrust towards the people sitting in the cinema with them. However - as Busche reminds us - cinema has always depended on a mixed calculation. For example, the factory owner Stollwerk realised early on that selling chocolate in the cinema hall would boost business. Today, cinema operators have to offer chocolate, nachos and cola to survive because ticket sales alone do not pay off.
The crisis of the cinema is proclaimed at regular intervals. Busche is therefore sure that it will survive this crisis, too - but he is not one of the optimists who hope that the pandemic could be a corrective for undesirable developments of past decades. Read More Read Less
A premiere took place at Christmas: Warner and Disney released films without a theatrical release for the first time. The era of the blockbuster is thus coming to an end. Whether the new James Bond will draw audiences to the cinema next year remains open to que stion. In 2020, the combination of streaming services and the pandemic has taken an extreme toll on the industry. Currently, film theatres are only getting through the crisis with state support. This is not only because the film theatre has lost the aura that surrounded it in the early 20th century. At present, instead of euphoria, there is often a sense of mistrust towards the people sitting in the cinema with them. However - as Busche reminds us - cinema has always depended on a mixed calculation. For example, the factory owner Stollwerk realised early on that selling chocolate in the cinema hall would boost business. Today, cinema operators have to offer chocolate, nachos and cola to survive because ticket sales alone do not pay off.
The crisis of the cinema is proclaimed at regular intervals. Busche is therefore sure that it will survive this crisis, too - but he is not one of the optimists who hope that the pandemic could be a corrective for undesirable developments of past decades. Read More Read Less
tag Kino Streaming Blockbuster Misstrauen Krise als Chance Performing Arts/ Cinema Bericht
»Es wurde zu viel abgesagt« . Kultur während Corona
»Too much has been cancelled« . Culture during Corona
by Axel Zibulski (26 Dec 2020)
Original source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Already after the spring lockdown, it was clear to many concert organisers of smaller events that they would be better off financially foregoing performances. The few places that could be allocated did not allow for cost-covering events. Nevertheless, many of them spared no effort to be able to offer events again, to bring artists on stage. The audience gratefully accepted the offer. The tickets for each concert were quickly sold out.
Karl-Werner Joerg, who is in charge of several subscription series in the Rhine-Main region, criticises the fact that many organ isers have cancelled concerts in anticipatory obedience. Especially with the smaller concerts, hygiene concepts could be taken into account very well, which is why - unlike with a big rock concert - a cancellation did not seem necessary. This also shows the support he has received. Subscribers have largely supported him, some concerts could be made possible with special public payments or private donations.
For a freelance concert organiser who does not have his own venue, the emergency aid and bridging funds were not available during the lockdown. On the one hand, he has few fixed costs, on the other hand, he also had income from subscriptions during the lockdown, which he was, however, not allowed to use to finance the new season until the autumn.
In the current situation, he demands above all that smaller events be allowed to take place again and that the industry show more solidarity. If large spaces were opened up for smaller organisers, this would not only help them and the musicians, but would also send an important signal to the »culture industry«: As in agriculture or retail, it should be about promoting smaller initiatives so that in the end it is not only the big chains that survive.
tag Konzertveranstalter Lockdown Planungssicherheit Solidarität Kulturindustrie Music Bericht
Auktionshäuser sind die Gewinner in der Krise
Auction houses are the winners in the crisis
by Christian Herchenröder (17 Dec 2020)
Original source: Handelsblatt
The corona-induced shrinkage of 30 to 40 percent is distributed differently among the players in the art market. While 2020 art fairs and galleries with virtual art fairs and exhibitions were only able to score with the public to a limited extent, the auction houses recorded strong sales increases with online-only auctions. In particular, they were able to encourage first-time buyers, especially from America and China, to bid for high-priced art, especially in the contemporary sector.
tag Kunstmarkt Galerien Auktionshäuser Online-Ausstellung Kunstmesse Rezession Visual Arts/Design Bericht
Place de la Bastille, la culture crie sa colère face au “mépris” du gouvernement
Place de la Bastille, the culture cries out in anger at the government's »contempt«
by Sophie Rahal (15 Dec 2020)
Original source: Télérama'
The French government's recent decision not to reopen cultural institutions on 15 December is leading to nationwide demonstrations by cultural workers from a wide range of disciplines, from street art to contemporary music and visual artists. The discontent articulated in Montpellier or in the historic Place de la Bastille in Paris is directed against the »contempt« articulated in government conduct. But it expresses also the financial precariousness that affects many of them despite state aid measures. The cultural workers are not asking for special trea tment but lamenting the injustice because despite all the health precautions taken to keep audiences safe, theatres and cinemas remain closed while commerce and churches are allowed to reopen. Actor Samuel Churin warns: »But [...] since the government has made a political decision, [...] we have to go into resistance. We will invade churches, shopping malls, auction houses.... And we will put on shows there«. He is one of the co-initiators of an emergency motion to be set up at the Conseil d'État on 16 December demanding the reopening of the venues.
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tag Widerstand Frankreich Gleichbehandlung Prekariat Theater Kirche Kino All sections Bericht
Der deutsche Staat verachtet Selbstständige und Kreative
The German state is contemptuous of self-employed and creative people
by Sascha Lobo (09 Dec 2020)
Original source: Der Spiegel
Why do solo self-employed people receive so little support from the GroKo during the crisis? This is the question that author and strategy consultant Sascha Lobo addresses in his column. Based on an interview with the SPD politician and Lower Saxony's Minister President Stephan Weil, in which he pointed out that Corona aid is a means of solidarity. Since the self-employed have not paid into any unemployment insurance so far, they are now dependent on transfer payments from the state. For this reason, he calls in the interview for compulsory insurance for the se lf-employed.
What sounds plausible at first glance turns out, on closer inspection, to be an attempt to curb self-employment in Germany. In principle, the self-employed make an important contribution to the community of solidarity. For years, one-third of the pension fund has been replenished with tax revenues, since the pension insurance would otherwise be bankrupt. In other words, the self-employed pay for a benefit that they themselves do not receive. Unemployment insurance for the self-employed has been discussed time and again since the turn of the millennium, but it has never been implemented. The failure to include non-permanent employees in social systems is now being used to the opposite effect, however, as the solo self-employed in particular are being accused of taking advantage of transfer payments - i.e. benefits without receiving anything in return. The fact that the self-employed are also taxpayers is tacitly passed over. Even the comment by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz that the solo self-employed, who have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, are being supported with all their might is no more than lip service. They are being offered a total of 5,000 euros until next summer to cushion their massive sales losses. November aid is only available to self-employed workers who are directly affected. But because the self-employed in particular are diversely positioned, they quickly fall below the 80 percent threshold, which means that if they have generated less sales with companies directly or indirectly affected by Lockdown, they will not receive any assistance. Yet it is precisely the solo self-employed who drive the economy forward with innovations and, under certain circumstances, lay the foundation for large companies. But it is only when the self-employed generate permanent jobs that they receive recognition from the state in the form of billions in aid, state loans or short-time work.
Lobo uses the example of author and director Anika Decker to show how little the work of creatives and the self-employed is respected. She wrote the book for the mega-successful film »Keinohrhasen« (No Ears), but was not given a share of the success by the production company. The commercializing company has now been sentenced to pay for the author's creative work, but the example shows how little creativity is valued in Germany.
Why does self-employment still have the reputation in Germany of being unsound and somehow unserious? Permanent employment, on the other hand, is considered sacred? One important reason is that too many self-employed people could bring down our social security systems. From 50 percent tax contribution to the pension fund, the self-employed could overturn the pension system, since it violates the equal treatment system of the German constitution. Thus, they will probably not be offered a worthy instrument for old-age security in the future either, and instead they will have to accept accusations of unsolidarity. Read More Read Less
What sounds plausible at first glance turns out, on closer inspection, to be an attempt to curb self-employment in Germany. In principle, the self-employed make an important contribution to the community of solidarity. For years, one-third of the pension fund has been replenished with tax revenues, since the pension insurance would otherwise be bankrupt. In other words, the self-employed pay for a benefit that they themselves do not receive. Unemployment insurance for the self-employed has been discussed time and again since the turn of the millennium, but it has never been implemented. The failure to include non-permanent employees in social systems is now being used to the opposite effect, however, as the solo self-employed in particular are being accused of taking advantage of transfer payments - i.e. benefits without receiving anything in return. The fact that the self-employed are also taxpayers is tacitly passed over. Even the comment by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz that the solo self-employed, who have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, are being supported with all their might is no more than lip service. They are being offered a total of 5,000 euros until next summer to cushion their massive sales losses. November aid is only available to self-employed workers who are directly affected. But because the self-employed in particular are diversely positioned, they quickly fall below the 80 percent threshold, which means that if they have generated less sales with companies directly or indirectly affected by Lockdown, they will not receive any assistance. Yet it is precisely the solo self-employed who drive the economy forward with innovations and, under certain circumstances, lay the foundation for large companies. But it is only when the self-employed generate permanent jobs that they receive recognition from the state in the form of billions in aid, state loans or short-time work.
Lobo uses the example of author and director Anika Decker to show how little the work of creatives and the self-employed is respected. She wrote the book for the mega-successful film »Keinohrhasen« (No Ears), but was not given a share of the success by the production company. The commercializing company has now been sentenced to pay for the author's creative work, but the example shows how little creativity is valued in Germany.
Why does self-employment still have the reputation in Germany of being unsound and somehow unserious? Permanent employment, on the other hand, is considered sacred? One important reason is that too many self-employed people could bring down our social security systems. From 50 percent tax contribution to the pension fund, the self-employed could overturn the pension system, since it violates the equal treatment system of the German constitution. Thus, they will probably not be offered a worthy instrument for old-age security in the future either, and instead they will have to accept accusations of unsolidarity. Read More Read Less
tag Festanstellung Stephan Weil Solidarität Solo-Selbständige Arbeitslosenversicherung Olaf Scholz Novemberhilfe Wertschätzung Konzerne All sections Statement
»Unsere Politiker machen es sich zu einfach« . Harter Lockdown« für Kirche und Kultur
»Our politicians make it too easy for themselves« . Hard lockdown for the church and culture
by Christian Hillgruber, Michael Köhler (09 Dec 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk
What about freedom of art and freedom of religion in the crisis? In an interview with the radio station Deutschlandfunk, Christian Hillgruber, an expert in constitutional law from Bonn, explains the relationship between the two and the protection of life, which is dominating the discussion in the Corona crisis. In principle, all fundamental rights must always be weighed against each other. None may categorically prevail and thus be used as a ›killer argument‹. Freedom of religion as well as freedom of art are highly valued by the Basic Constitut ional Law. Therefore, they must not be abridged arbitrarily. Limitless restrictions cannot be legally justified even with the protection of life. This plays an important role especially with regard to the Christmas season, because for the churches Christmas does not end on 26 December, but the Christmas celebrations continue in the Christian churches until 1 or 10 January. Especially in view of the impending ›hard lockdown‹, the question therefore arises whether the Basic Constitutional Law will be damaged if all other freedoms have to take a back seat to the protection of life.
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tag Kunstfreiheit Religionsfreiheit Weihnachten harter Lockdown All sections Interview
Transformed by crisis, arts criticism may never be the same. And that’s a good thing.
by Philip Kennicott (29 Nov 2020)
Original source: Washington Post
The pandemic has freed critics from their usual patterns, opening new perspectives and insight. But the crisis also reveals the economic vulnerability of so many people in the arts field, which implicates also anti-elitist aspect: What becomes apparent is the geographical dispersion of the arts, so it breaks with the established conception of artists to belong to the so-called »coastal elites«. The author also believes that »one of the more rigorous of the old rules that is falling away is the church-state division between artists and critics, a red lin e that made them often seem to be antagonists.« Last but not least the crisis triggers a kind of disciplined essentialism: We concentrate on what really interests us and pay more attention to it. Consequently, criticism will be »more personal, more to the point, more empathetic, more open and less formulaic.«
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tag USA Elite Kunstkritik Empathie Visual Arts/Design Statement
Theater in Sachsen-Anhalt bleiben dicht: »Das ist eine Katastrophe« . Corona-Beschränkungen werden verlängert
Theatres in Saxony-Anhalt remain closed: »This is a catastrophe« . Corona restrictions are extended
by Luca Deutschländer (26 Nov 2020)
Original source: MDR
Cultural workers across the country are frustrated: Lockdown light will be extended into December as well. Janek Liebetruth, independent director and artistic director as well as chairman of the State Centre for Independent Theatre in Saxony-Anhalt sums up the significance of the further closure: »This is a catastrophe«. For theatres in particular, December is the month with the highest turnover. The houses can hardly compensate for the loss of income. Actress Kerstin Dathe, who works in puppet theatre, would have had about 30 performances until Christmas. Wo rries about the future and, above all, the question of whether the state-promised aid will actually take effect are on the minds of the cultural workers. It is uncertain when they will be allowed to perform again. Optimism is increasingly difficult in this situation.
Liebetruth demands that the economic losses suffered by cultural workers be compensated. Programmes like »Neustart Kultur« have the task of preventing a cultural death by offering a perspective for the coming year. What the cultural sector also needs is planning security, because only this can alleviate the frustration somewhat. Read More Read Less
Liebetruth demands that the economic losses suffered by cultural workers be compensated. Programmes like »Neustart Kultur« have the task of preventing a cultural death by offering a perspective for the coming year. What the cultural sector also needs is planning security, because only this can alleviate the frustration somewhat. Read More Read Less
tag November-Lockdown Theater Planungssicherheit Advent Kultursterben Neustart Kultur Performing Arts/ Cinema Bericht
Wie gerecht ist der Orchesterbetrieb? . Die Corona-Krise macht ein Zwei-Klassen-System sichtbar
How fair is the orchestra business? . Corona crisis reveals a two-tier system
by Frederik Hanssen (16 Nov 2020)
Original source: Tagesspiegel
What is the music scene's lobby? This question has been discussed again and again in the last weeks. The permanently employed musicians are represented by the German Orchestra Association. In recent years, this association has negotiated good collective agreements for orchestra members. This means that they are well-positioned - also in comparison to freelance vocal soloists - and can safely get through the crisis, especially since they have relatively secure jobs due to their job at a state-financed institution.
The situation is currently different in the ind ependent scene. Two years ago the organization ›Freo‹, the Association of Free Ensembles and Orchestras in Germany, was founded, but it was intended as a forum for the exchange of experience. During the crisis, it is now lobbying for the independent ensembles and orchestras. This is all but easy, as Frederik Hanssen points out using the example of the German Chamber Orchestra (DKO). The orchestra works with a permanent staff of 20 freelance musicians who are booked for individual projects. Performances and tours are planned and organized by three employees. Although the orchestra has regular customers, most of whom have not returned their tickets in spring, and have extended their subscriptions to a large extent, the orchestra does not benefit from the State Minister of Culture's special fund for independent orchestras. While other orchestras and ensembles can use this fund to pay the salaries of the musicians until the end of the year, the freelance musicians and their orchestras are running out of road. Therefore, 'Freo' is now demanding to compensate this inequality by providing a basic financial security for the members of the free orchestras. This is not only about short-term survival, but also about the question of how state funding can be fairly distributed in the coming years when communal revenues collapse and cultural budgets are cut. The Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt is setting an example of solidarity. Next spring, it will make its halls available to independent formations on 12 evenings for free. Read More Read Less
The situation is currently different in the ind ependent scene. Two years ago the organization ›Freo‹, the Association of Free Ensembles and Orchestras in Germany, was founded, but it was intended as a forum for the exchange of experience. During the crisis, it is now lobbying for the independent ensembles and orchestras. This is all but easy, as Frederik Hanssen points out using the example of the German Chamber Orchestra (DKO). The orchestra works with a permanent staff of 20 freelance musicians who are booked for individual projects. Performances and tours are planned and organized by three employees. Although the orchestra has regular customers, most of whom have not returned their tickets in spring, and have extended their subscriptions to a large extent, the orchestra does not benefit from the State Minister of Culture's special fund for independent orchestras. While other orchestras and ensembles can use this fund to pay the salaries of the musicians until the end of the year, the freelance musicians and their orchestras are running out of road. Therefore, 'Freo' is now demanding to compensate this inequality by providing a basic financial security for the members of the free orchestras. This is not only about short-term survival, but also about the question of how state funding can be fairly distributed in the coming years when communal revenues collapse and cultural budgets are cut. The Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt is setting an example of solidarity. Next spring, it will make its halls available to independent formations on 12 evenings for free. Read More Read Less
tag Orchester Orchestervereinigung Freie Orchester Lobby Krise nach der Krise Etatkürzungen Music Bericht
Herbert Grönemeyer will die Reichen schröpfen
Herbert Grönemeyer wants to fleece the rich
by Rainer Hank (15 Nov 2020)
Original source: FAZ
In the business section of the FAZ, Herbert Grönemeyer's suggestion to millionaires in Germany for a solidarity contribution in the Corona crisis is critically examined. Already the reasoning does not convince the journalist Rainer Hank. To pay a contribution for the victims of the crisis solely because of family resemblance is not a conclusive argument. In addition, one has to consider, the musician is quoted as saying, that 75 percent of the previous year's turnover for the month of November is not enough to support the artists. Only a permanent monthly ba sic income can get them through the crisis.
Is an artist like Grönemeyer, who is certainly one of the Corona profiteers because of the royalties for streamed songs, allowed to rise to the position of »lawyer for the disenfranchised«? Especially since the profits are likely to continue even after the crisis. Aren't artists suffering in the pandemic rather from the fact that they cannot perform their art in front of an audience? Shouldn't we therefore stop stylizing art and artists as victims of the pandemic and ask the rich to pay for it? Doesn't this turn cultural workers into a "special-purpose and employment society of the nation", a subdivision of the public service for which the state has to provide?
Looking at the political decisions of the last few months, cultural workers are not only protected by compensation payments from Corona Aid, but also have a lobbyist in the government in the person of Monika Grütters. Tax money for culture is permanently secured. And, according to Hank's argumentation, more than 50 percent of it is borne by the rich. It is therefore not possible to ask them to pay once again.
If the creative artists claim more and more state for themselves, then they regard it as "artist's pension fund". This contradicts the idea of the artistic avant-garde, which propagated an entrepreneurial existence of the artist. For this reason, artists should do without lawyers like Herbert Grönemeyer, who, instead of emphasizing creativity, ingenuity and curiosity, degrades the creative industry to a "public fun industry".
Even though Hank is quite agreeable when he emphasizes that there are winners of the pandemic in the cultural industry as well, it should be remembered that Grönemeyer is not concerned with himself when he calls for the support of the rich. He speaks for the many cultural service providers, e.g. light, sound and event technicians, concert organizers, caterers,....., who have lost their income for months and whose reserves have been used up after 8 months of pandemic. A flourishing industry, which normally does not need any support from the state, but was robbed of its income by the prohibition to work and now needs bridging assistance. Read More Read Less
Is an artist like Grönemeyer, who is certainly one of the Corona profiteers because of the royalties for streamed songs, allowed to rise to the position of »lawyer for the disenfranchised«? Especially since the profits are likely to continue even after the crisis. Aren't artists suffering in the pandemic rather from the fact that they cannot perform their art in front of an audience? Shouldn't we therefore stop stylizing art and artists as victims of the pandemic and ask the rich to pay for it? Doesn't this turn cultural workers into a "special-purpose and employment society of the nation", a subdivision of the public service for which the state has to provide?
Looking at the political decisions of the last few months, cultural workers are not only protected by compensation payments from Corona Aid, but also have a lobbyist in the government in the person of Monika Grütters. Tax money for culture is permanently secured. And, according to Hank's argumentation, more than 50 percent of it is borne by the rich. It is therefore not possible to ask them to pay once again.
If the creative artists claim more and more state for themselves, then they regard it as "artist's pension fund". This contradicts the idea of the artistic avant-garde, which propagated an entrepreneurial existence of the artist. For this reason, artists should do without lawyers like Herbert Grönemeyer, who, instead of emphasizing creativity, ingenuity and curiosity, degrades the creative industry to a "public fun industry".
Even though Hank is quite agreeable when he emphasizes that there are winners of the pandemic in the cultural industry as well, it should be remembered that Grönemeyer is not concerned with himself when he calls for the support of the rich. He speaks for the many cultural service providers, e.g. light, sound and event technicians, concert organizers, caterers,....., who have lost their income for months and whose reserves have been used up after 8 months of pandemic. A flourishing industry, which normally does not need any support from the state, but was robbed of its income by the prohibition to work and now needs bridging assistance. Read More Read Less
