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.


 

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.

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tag November-Lockdown Theater Planungssicherheit Advent Kultursterben Neustart Kultur
Performing Arts/ Cinema Bericht

Die Seele leidet - Weihnachtszeit ohne Kulturveranstaltungen
The soul suffers - Christmas time without cultural events

by Maria Ossowski (26 Nov 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk

The extension of the Lockdown light into December means renunciation for many people. By this, journalist Maria Ossowski does not primarily mean the cultural workers and restaurateurs, who are not allowed to offer their services in the last month of the year either. She is referring to the approximately nine million museum visitors or one and a half million people who attend an opera, theater, concert or reading in Germany each month - which they are currently not allowed to do, despite excellently prepared hygiene concerts. The cultural workers themselves - according to the subtext of the admonition of the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Culture Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen not to demand a special treatment again - are not entitled to defend themselves against the recent professional ban. After all, the November subsidies will be paid out at some point.

Ossowski proves that this argumentation is wrong. It is not a question of prohibition to work, nor is it a question of how Christmas can be celebrated in the family circle. Because this argumentation overlooks the fact that Christmas does not mean pure happiness for everyone. People who have to cope with family losses or separations, who live alone or are ill, often find the Christmas season a great emotional burden. For these people, culture provides solace in the pre-Christmas period. Many would therefore have done anything to give the pre-Christmas season an inner meaning through cultural events. The mental needs of these humans are put aside in favor of gifts and Christmas goose in the family circle, thereby we should be particularly concerned in the Advent about their well-being.

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tag Dezember-Lockdown Kulturveranstaltungen Advent Einsamkeit Trost Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen
All sections Kommentar

Mein Europa: Ohne Kunst und Kultur wird's still
My Europe: Without art and culture it will be quiet.

by Carmen-Francesca Banciu (20 Nov 2020)
Original source: Deutsche Welle

With the reference "Without art and culture it will be quiet", cultural workers are currently drawing attention to the existential threat to the cultural industry posed by the corona lockdown, an industry that was already precarious before the crisis.  But what does this mean in concrete terms?
The writer Carmen-Francesca Banciu makes it clear in her column at Deutsche Welle with an appeal by Nancy Bass Wyden, the owner of the New York Strand Book Shop on the corner of 12th Street and Broadway: »We need help.« Institutions like the world -famous antiquarian bookstore are facing the end of their existence in the face of the consequences of Corona if they do not receive support. This does not only apply to the Strand Book Shop but also to the »Dussmann in Berlin, Dom Knigi in St. Petersburg, Dominicans in Maastricht, Libreria Aqua Alta in Venice, Atlantic Books on Santorini, Livraria Lello & Irmao in Porto, Desperate Literatur in Madrid, Carturesti in Bucharest« - the list could be extended by many, many more bookstores, cultural department stores or record stores. All of these are places where not only books were sold, but also meeting places for authors, musicians, artists, readers, critics and all other culture enthusiasts. Places which, because of their special atmosphere, became the backdrop for films and whose charisma not only represents the European spirit, but which also became a spiritual home for their visitors. This cannot be captured by streaming music or theater performances. This is why the statement »Without art and culture it will be quiet« is so important at the moment: When the world becomes quiet, according to Carmen-Francesca Banciu, it becomes dark within us. This must be avoided.

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tag Buchhandlungen Kulturkaufhäuser Streaming geistige Heimat Prekariat Strand Book Shop New York
All sections Gastkolumne

Kulturzeit extra: Theater im Lockdown
Kulturzeit extra: Theatres during lockdown

by Vivian Pekovic (Moderation) (18 Nov 2020)
Original source: Kulturzeit

The German TV program Kulturzeit focusses in this issue on the situation of the theaters during lockdown. The first contribution inspects the situation at the Volksbühne in Berlin. There, the project »Spielplanänderung« (Change of play program) aimed to bring back to the stage unjustly forgotten plays by important authors. But now the theatre is not only fighting for the authors, but also for not being forgotten as institution. The actors not only play, but also discuss the role of the theater. What bothers them about the political discussion is the disrespectful tone, because they all agree that the theater offers an important outlet for society. It is the place for a discourse on topics that are discussed by a broad audience. They consider it a luxury to be allowed to rehearse, yet the current situation costs a lot of energy - especially since for many actors who do not have a permanent contract with a theater, the income breaks off. The demand that the theaters be allowed to reopen soon is not only demanded by cultural workers, but also by the Senator for Culture in Berlin, Klaus Lederer.

The theater critic and author Simon Strauß developed the program for the ›Change of program‹. He points out that it is currently dangerous to over-adapt as theater and to play down one's own status. Subsidies and the standing of the theater as a psychological and humane institution could be lost.

An important experience for the actor Lars Eidinger was not being allowed to play for seven months. During this time he realized that for him, working on stage is the creative center of his work. For him, the central characteristic of theater is immediacy, which no other medium can achieve. However, he sees the theater not as a moral institution, but rather as a free space in which one does not have to distinguish between good and evil.  

However, there are also voices that demand that theater professionals use the crisis to reflect on their own position. Simon Strauß is one of these voices. He would like to see the creative people emerge from the crisis with a new form of consciousness. For the theaters this means, among other things, revising play programs, making them more diverse. But new formats must be developed on stage. He sees streaming only as a substitute, a consolation for the time until the houses can play again. For him theaters make an important contribution to the psychological edification of people with their immediacy, with their way of raising questions. This has to be defended self-confidently against politics, especially in view of upcoming budget cuts. Theater - as Strauß puts it - is more than systemically relevant, it is »decisive«.

In addition to the theaters, however, other cultural institutions are also threatened by the crisis. Although it is still allowed to perform in Switzerland, many institutions survive mainly because of their parallel cafe and bar operation. The few spectators who are admitted to a performance make it almost impossible to work economically.

One of the few cultural institutions that are allowed to open in Germany are the galleries. They enable the artists at least not to be completely forgotten - after all, they not only suffer from the threat to their existence, but also from not being allowed to show their works. Nevertheless, it is also difficult for galleries to assert themselves on the market at the moment, because new groups of buyers cannot be addressed at present. So the question here is also how art and culture can be valued and rewarded as an essential good for society in the future.

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tag November-Lockdown Theater Krise als Chance Unmittelbarkeit Streaming Simon Strauß Lars Eidinger Volksbühne Galerien Quo vadis ars
Performing Arts/ Cinema Kultursendung

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.

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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.

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tag Novemberhilfe Millionäre Tantieme Corona-Gewinner Herbert Grönemeyer
All sections Kommentar

Mathe im Museum . Corona und die Künste
Mathematics at the museum . Corona and the arts

by Catrin Lorch (11 Nov 2020)
Original source: Süddeutsche Zeitung

With the partial lockdown in November, solidarity in society begins to crumble. Politics is not innocent in this, since many cultural workers cannot understand the reason why cultural institutions in particular have to close, due to the excellent hygiene concepts. Instead of stylizing herself as a victim, the director of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld turns the tables and offers her spacious and well air-conditioned premises to schools as classrooms. Federal Minister of Education Anja Karliczek does not seem to be averse to the proposal to use out-of-school rooms for lessons, since in many places there are not sufficiently large and well air-conditioned classrooms available to give lessons.
The creativity with which the cultural sector is responding to the challenge of the crisis is still lacking in the political arena. This is how Catrin Lorch describes the New Deal, which provided artists and cultural workers in America with commissions during the depression of the 1930s and thus saved them from the crisis. She names artists such as Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock, who became successful over the course of the century and would not have made it through the economic crisis without this support. Another advantage of government commissions at that time in the United States was that art and culture were received by a broad public and thus contributed to a national identity. Thus, a gesture of solidarity by the art institutions could not only encourage the state to become more sovereign, generous and creative, but at the same time counteract the current distribution struggles.

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tag New Deal Schule im Museum Künstlerförderung Solidarität Christina Végh Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen
All sections Bericht

»Ich empfinde die Schließung der Theater als reine Willkür«
»I consider the closure of the theatres as purely arbitrary«

by Dieter Hallervorden, Susanne Lenz (09 Nov 2020)
Original source: Berliner Zeitung

Not proportionality, but arbitrariness is a characteristic feature of the current corona resolutions. Based on this view, the German actor and comedian Dieter Hallervorden has enormous doubts as to whether the closure of the theaters this fall is actually legal. Therefore, as the owner of the Schlosspark Theater in Berlin, he has filed an expedited motion with the Administrative Court against the closure of his theater. In an interview with the Berliner Zeitung, he points out that the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has called the theaters "safe places". Basi cally, people come closer to each other at a hairdresser than in a playhouse. He therefore does not see the proportionality that is a prerequisite for the restriction of basic rights. In his expedited motion, he refers to the freedom of the arts as laid down in the German constitution, which he sees endangered by the closure of the theaters. Although he himself has had to contribute a great deal of money in recent months to cover the running costs of the Schlosstheater, the financial loss hurts at most his son, whose inheritance is diminished by this. The successful actor does not seem to be in financial straits for a long time yet.
Hallervorden, who characterizes himself as a rebel, is particularly pleased that he has received a great deal of recognition and approval from the audience. Disappointment is read between the lines when he confirms that although many colleagues wished him success in his application, there was very little active solidarity.

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tag Theater November-Lockdown Verhältnismäßigkeit Eilantrag Grundgesetz Kunstfreiheit Schlosspark Theater
Performing Arts/ Cinema Interview

Kunst und Care-Arbeit . Fragwürdige Juryentscheidung
Art and Care Work . Questionable jury decision

by Brigitte Werneburg (09 Nov 2020)
Original source: taz

The Neustart Kultur program also offers scholarships for artists* with children under 7 years of age. The awarding was carried out by the Stiftung Kunstfonds, which also awards annual project scholarships. The benchmark - artistic quality in a nationwide comparison - also applied to the awarding of the scholarships in this special program of the German State Minister of Culture. Now the outcry is great, because more men than women were awarded this scholarship, although more women than men applied. Brigitte Werneburg, editor of the newspaper taz, asks if the awarding of the scholarships is now an expression of the fact that gender-equitable distribution of tasks has already been introduced in the visual arts. This does not seem to be the case when you have a look at the number of applications, in which women are far ahead with 60 percent. The feedback from the Stiftung Kunstfonds was disappointing for many, as the foundation referred to its statutes and the standard of artistic quality, since the grants awarded are not economic subsidies but project funding.
This raises the question of why women artists cannot compete with their male colleagues in terms of quality and whether the fact that one has a child under 7 years of age is an artistic criterion. According to the analysis of the taz article, the Kunstfonds Bonn Foundation does not seem suitable to award the scholarships within the framework of the rescue program Neustart Kultur, since they are now explicitly intended as economic aid.
However, the concluding considerations of the article are particularly worthy of consideration. Artists currently need economic aid. After all, they are not unemployed, but are engaged in gainful activity, which, however, is not permitted on the market at present. Hartz IV is in this situation no adequate offer - not only because the artists are getting into a bureaucratic wheelwork, in which they must attack their old age provision, participate in further training offers and must accept job offers. Much more important is that they are thus excluded from the artists' social security fund (KSK). This unique German system - in which the artists contribute like employees to health and pension insurance, while the employers' contributions are paid by art and culture companies and the state - is fundamentally endangered in the crisis, because when art and culture facilities are closed, there is no income.

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tag Neustart Kultur Stiftung Kunstfonds Stipendien Wirtschaftsbeihilfe Künstlersozialkasse Hartz IV Geschlechtergerechtigkeit
Visual Arts/Design Bericht

Corona zum Weihnachtsgeschäft: Wie es dem Buchhandel in der Krise geht
Corona for the Christmas business: How the book trade is doing in the crisis

by Michael Wurmitzer (09 Nov 2020)
Original source: Der Standard

Actually, the sales figures for the Austrianbook industry in Corona times look good. Following slumps of minus 41 and minus 65 percent in March and April respectively, the  figures for the fall were actually slightly higher than the previous year. But if you take a closer look at the figures,  like Helmut Zechner from the bookshop Heyn in Klagenfurt and Chairman of the Austrian Booksellers Association, the situation looks different. If you take the online giant Amazon out of the statistics, the bookstores are left with an annual minus of twelve percent. The can cellation of the Buch Wien book fair and the lockdown now give booksellers reason to fear the worst, as the industry in Austria generates a third of its annual sales in November and December. Contemporary literature in particular is now suffering from the lack of attention to new publications. It is difficult to say whether the lack of readings and events is actually the cause of the drop in sales. Small publishing houses in particular are making a living from live events, while the large corporations have currently stepped up their social media activities and are increasingly offering online readings. On the other hand, small publishers in particular have a more loyal core audience. In addition, many publishers have slimmed down their fall program considerably, while large bookstore chains like Thalia are increasingly focusing on hygiene concepts. Thalia even offers pick-up machines in Vienna to provide customer-friendly service during the crisis. The reduction in value-added tax is also currently a great help to the industry - although there are already indications that this will not be extended beyond the turn of the year. So the only thing that remains to be hoped for is a good Christmas business so that the book industry in Austria can get through the crisis well.

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tag Buchhandel Verlage Buchmesse Amazon Umsatz Weihnachtsgeschäft Hygienekonzept
Literature/ Text Bericht

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Facing arts is a non-profi project. Feel free to support it and get in touch with us!

The Team

Facing arts is a projet by STORM.

STORM is an acronym playing with the initials by Miriam Seidler & Tim Otto Roth, who are hit both by the Corona crisis. Dr. Miriam Seidler is a scholar in German literature and currently works as specialist in public relations. Dr. Tim Otto Roth is a scholar in art and science history and works as a conceptual artist and composer. He is known for his huge projects in public space, cooperations with leading scientific institutions and his immersive sound and light installations. Miriam and Tim collaborate regularly for years. With facing arts they reaslize their first common art project.
You find more informatin on both initiators on www.miriamseidler.de and www.imachination.net.

Special thanks to Paco Croket for the tag cloud programming!

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