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.


 

Die Buchbranche leidet und macht Verluste . Ein Virus namens Angst greift um sich
The book industry suffers and makes losses . A virus called anxiety is spreading

by Paul Jandl (17 Jul 2020)
Original source: Neue Züricher Zeitung

Even before the crisis, things did not look bright in the book industry. In recent years, the number of people who regularly buy a book has fallen steadily. The Corona crisis, during which many switched to other media and Amazon preferred to deliver toilet paper instead of books, reinforced this trend. At the end of May, the industry recorded a loss of 17.5 percent compared to the previous year. And so many publishers are reacting with a cost-cutting programme.
Just how hard the industry is struggling with its reinvention was shown by the squabbles surrounding the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. Many publishing companies have since cancelled their participation after the people in charge decided very early on to hold the Fair with an alternative concept. In Frankfurt, for example, people are now thinking about transforming the industry meeting into a creative festival where, besides literature, music, pop and gaming are also present. At the moment it is to be feared that anxiety is causing much more damage in the industry than the virus.

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tag Buchbranche Buchmesse Neustart Kultur Umsatzeinbruch zweiter Frühling
Literature/ Text Bericht

Besucheransturm auf Museen nach Lockdown bleibt offenbar aus
Visitor rush on museums after lockdown apparently is missing

by Wolfgang Ullrich (14 Jul 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk

The museums are open again, but the expected visitors are missing in many houses. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio, Wolfgang Ullrich explains why the offer is so hesitantly accepted and how the museums will change in the coming years.
An important approach for understanding the hesitant return of visitors after the opening of the museums lies in the changed perception of the museum visit.The idea still prevailed that visitor contemplate before the works and enjoy the peace and quiet. In that context, it is often forgotten that the museum has become an im portant social place. You visit it with friends and acquaintances to experience something there. This is not yet the case. The obligation to wear masks and the limited number of visitors is a deterrent to many people.
Wolfgang Ullricht basically assumes that the exhibitions will change in the next few years. Large blockbuster exhibitions will no longer be economically viable with lower visitor numbers. Museums will therefore have to concentrate more on their collections again and use these to design attractive exhibitions for a local audience. 

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tag Museen Besucherzahlen lokales Publikum Onlineangebote Blockbuster
Visual Arts/Design Interview

Nach dem Stillstand die Besinnung?
After the standstill, the recollection?

by Till Briegleb (07 Jul 2020)
Original source: Süddeutsche Zeitung

The corona-related closures mean millions in lost revenue for the major German museums in Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich or Cologne. Even the rapid reopening of the museums can do little to change this. If in one week there are as many visitors as before the lockdown on one day, the museums are already happy. People are still afraid of exhibition spaces with great appeal. Above all, the number of city travellers is still very low. However, the museum management does not appear to be alarmed so far. This is partly due to the fact that they currently have the feeling tha t they are supported by the state. In contrast to the wave of layoffs in America, at least the permanent employees can rely on government support. However, financing is not a very popular discussion topic at the moment. Instead, the realignment of the houses is being discussed. Many will make a virtue out of necessity and concentrate again more on content than on big names.

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tag Museen Finanzen Marion Ackermann Hartz IV Neuausrichtung Sammlung
Visual Arts/Design Bericht

Jeff Koons, Gagosian Gallery, and Many Other Blue-Chip Art Operations Received Millions of Dollars in Government Stimulus Money

by Taylor Dafoe (07 Jul 2020)
Original source: artnet news

Art seems to be a different business in the US if you look to the public aid during the crisis not only for museums, but also for galleries and artist studios. According to the data released by the federal Treasury Department not only galleries as Pace, David Zwirner and Gagosian received millions but also the studios of Jeff Koons or Meow Wolff. The lists of who received how much is publically available. 

tag USA Galerien Soforthilfe Museum
Visual Arts/Design Bericht

Zerreißprobe für die Buchmesse
Ordeal for the book fair

by Sandra Kegel (04 Jul 2020)
Original source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The Frankfurt Book Fair is not only an important economic factor for the industry, it is also a historical institution, as it can look back on an intellectual tradition and five hundred years of history. In the current crisis, the fair management, together with the Börsenverein, has decided to hold the fair this year, but to distribute many events throughout the city. Now it has become known that the city of Frankfurt wants to expand the trade fair concept for 2021 to include music and gaming. The outcry in the book industry is huge. It is to be hoped that the book fair concept will survive this crisis as well.

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tag Literatur Buchmesse Frankfurt
Literature/ Text Bericht

Entwarnung klingt anders . Chorsingen und Corona: Studie macht Aerosole sichtbar
It doesn't sound like the all-clear . Choral singing and corona: Study makes aerosols visible

by Tobias Stosiek (03 Jul 2020)
Original source: BR Klassik

At the beginning of the Corona pandemic there were some cases of mass infection in choirs and so it is reasonable to assume that the risk of infection is particularly high when singing. In a study conducted by the LMU Munich and the Friedrich-Alexander-University in Erlangen, the voice physician Matthias Echternach and the fluid mechanic Stefan Kniesburges conducted a series of experiments to make the spread of aerosols visible. Singers of the Bavarian Radio Choir were available as test persons. They had the hope that the study would send a positive signal for an early resumption of concert activities.

The all-clear hoped for by the study did not come true, the hygiene rules that have been in force up to now are quite sensible, since aerosols do not only spread forward but also sideways. The degree of propagation depends on the existing ventilation system. A whole series of questions still remain unanswered: Does deep breathing while singing contribute to an increased probability of infection? How large is the amount of aerosol that is formed when singing and what is the corresponding concentration of aerosols in the air? Questions that still need to be answered in order to further trace the dangers of choral singing.

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tag Chorsingen Aerosole Spucketröpfchen Hygieneregeln BR-Chor Matthias Echternach Stefan Kniesburges
Music Bericht

Es fehlt die Angemessenheit der Mittel . Gesangsverbot für Chöre in Berlin

by Maria Ossowski (29 Jun 2020)
Original source: rbb24

Berlin has updated its Corona Ordinance and has banned singing in closed rooms strictly. There are no exceptions to this regulation. The regulations are to remain in force until 24 October. The choirs are annoyed because they were not informed about the new ban in advance.

tag Chöre Oper Berufsverbot Berlin Verhältnismäßigkeit
Music Kommentar

Event- und Konzertveranstalter in Not . Aktion „Night of Light“
Event and concert organizer in distress . Campaign: „Night of Light“

by Tom Koperek, Stephan Karkowsky (22 Jun 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk

On the evening of 22 June 2020 concert halls, theatres and live clubs are taking part throughout Germany: Their buildings illuminated in red did draw attention to the problems of the event industry at the "Night of Light". Since the event industry is a very heterogeneous branch of industry with over 150 subsections, it is difficult to make them visible in the political discourse.

tag Night of Light Veranstaltungsbranche Berufsverbot Solo-Selbständige Soforthilfe
All sections Interview

What’s the ideal post-pandemic art market? One that's no longer a Disneyland for the rich . Capitalism has gobbled up the art world over the past decade—it is high time for a reset

by Jane Kallir (22 Jun 2020)
Original source: The Art Newspaper

The art world expanded beyond the limits of sustainability even before Covid 19 states art dealer and curator Jane Kallir in her comment. A few big galleries and auction houses have taken over the art world and turning it into a big commerce for the rich jetset. Diversity changed to a “limited market of the bankable recognisable few” (Melanie Gerlis) pushing the smaller galleries out of the market.
For Kallir this trend to commercialisation was initiated in the 1980’s expanding in the last decades massively the art market and turning art works on the one side into a speculative object for short-term profit and on the other side into crowd-pleasing entertainments. An ideal post-pandemic world art would be no longer such a Disneyland for the rich.

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tag Kunstmarkt Galerien Kommerzialisierung Jetset
Visual Arts/Design Kommentar

Solo-Selbständige: Unter Verdacht
Freelancers: Under suspicion

by Karin Finkenzeller (14 Jun 2020)
Original source: Zeit

The uncertainty related to the application for emergency aid is affecting many creative artists and cultural workers. As the regulations were initially all but transparent, it was not clearly communicated that it is not possible to apply for entrepreneurial salaries in every German federal state. Now, there hangs the accusation in the air, that artists are obtaining benefits from the state by fraud, which the state awarded far too carelessly. Rainer Bode, cultural advisor in Münster, and a few fellow campaigners have therefore sent an appeal for remediation to the B undestag Committee for Culture.

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tag Soforthilfe Solo-Selbständige Existenzangst Vera Klima
All sections Bericht

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The signet of facing arts joining the faces of STORM.

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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