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.


 

Kultur ist kein Sahnehäubchen . Warum wir Theater, Kino und Buchhandlungen jetzt sofort öffnen müssen
Culture is not icing on the cake . Why we need to open theaters, cinemas and bookstores right now

by Alexander Skipis (23 Feb 2021)
Original source: FAZ

Applying the concept of catharsis introduced by Aristotle in his Poetics, Alexander Skipis, Chief Executive of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association, goes back very far in cultural history to describe the impact of the pandemic on the population. The release of strong feelings through reflection and witnessing in art and literature is only possible to a very limited extent during the lockdown. Even as policymakers attempt to compensate for the economic losses suffered by cultural producers, they fail to provide the consumer relief functions paraphrased by t he term catharsis. Skipis therefore combines his plea for the rapid opening of cultural institutions and bookstores with a warning about the mental damage to society that the pandemic has already triggered and the extent of which cannot yet be foreseen.

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tag Lockdown Systemrelevanz Katharsis
All sections Kommentar

Lockdown mit Nebenwirkungen . Kultur auf Abtand
Lockdown with side effects . Culture at bay

by Claudia Kuhland, Marion Ammicht (08 Nov 2020)
Original source: ttt - titel themen tempramente

After a week of lockdown for the arts, the ARD cultural magazine provides an overview of the reactions of cultural workers to the closure of the institutions. The opening quote by the Minister for Culture and Science in NRW, Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen, is symptomatic of the way the scene is handled. Culture is accused of violating the social consensus; the existential needs of many freelance artists, but also of the many companies dependent on the industry and solo self-employed are hardly heard. It is therefore not surprising that theater directors, museum directors, and managers of concert halls are now harshly criticizing political decisions - especially since offers of discussion are not heard from their side. The fact that especially in »our attacked democracy« the voice of art and culture must not be overheard is something that theatre director Karin Beier, for example, warns against, and perhaps implicitly gives a reason why Germans currently prefer to be sent shopping rather than to the theater or museum.

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tag November-Lockdown #AlarmstufeRot #sangundklanglos Solidarität Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen
All sections Bericht

Diese Entscheidung trifft die Falschen . Shutdown für Kultureinrichtungen
This decision affects the wrong people . Shutdwon for cultural institutions

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

Not only lack of understanding, but above all anger is great among all creative artists and culture enthusiasts in Germany. For one month, all facilities have to close, despite the fact that sophisticated hygiene concepts have made them the safest places to be during the pandemic. Maria Ossowski - herself a member of the high-risk group, by the way - feels at home there and in her commentary sums up the lack of understanding: Because the governments have not been able to get a grip on the infection and especially on party culture, culture must now pay for it again.  So this measures sound the death knell for many smaller cultural institutions.
Ossowski derives why culture cannot be an exception from the following three points: First, politics is currently populist, driven and relies on no studies. Secondly, it is assumed that artists do not fight back, but rather hire themselves from the nearest supermarket out of existential need. Thirdly, many retailers and businesses will not survive the crisis, so why should the gross value added in the cultural industry be taken into account?
In this way, the importance of culture is being trampled underfoot not only for the individual, but for our entire society.

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tag Existenzrelevanz Lebensrelevanz November-Lockdown Partykultur Hygienekonzepte Infektionsketten
All sections Kommentar

»Literatur ist ein Lebensmittel!« . Erste Lesungen nach der Corona-Krise
»Literature is a nutrient!« . First readings after the Corona crisis

by Börsenblatt Online (19 Jun 2020)
Original source: Börsenblatt

The first readings after the lockdown have found an enthusiastic audience, but the booksellers still want to wait until autumn before organising new readings, because from an economic point of view the events are a risk. Despite good sales figures at the book table and sold-out readings, large rooms have to be rented and the supervision of the event is personnel-intensive due to the hygiene concept.

tag Literatur Lesung Hygieneregeln
Literature/ Text Bericht

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

Das Eine-Milliarde-Euro-Baby
The One-Billion-Euro-Baby

by Dirk Peitz (05 Jun 2020)
Original source: Zeit

Dirk Peitz explores the question of how the crisis of culture in Germany can be described exactly and who is currently bearing the costs that arise in the cultural sector. The »latent lack of systemic relevance« could become a problem for the industry if the economic crisis becomes more severe or lasts longer than currently expected. While the approximately 1.7 million employees are currently an argument in favour of artists, cultural funding could be discontinued very quickly in times of tight budgets.

tag Monika Grütters Konjunkturpaket Kulturförderung Systemrelevanz
All sections Analyse

Schwer zu lesen . Keine Messe, kein Amazon, keine Aufmerksamkeit: Corona hat den Buchmarkt hart getroffen.
Difficult to read . No trade fair, no Amazon, no attention: Corona hit the book market severely

by Christoph Schröder (12 May 2020)
Original source: Die Zeit

tag Buchbranche Verlage Buchmesse Herbstprogramm Umsatzeinbruch Jo Lendle Grusche Juncker Andreas Rötzer
Literature/ Text Bericht

Bühnenverein kritisiert Schweigen der Politik . Ulrich Khuon zur Lage der Theater
Bühnenverein criticizes the silence of politics . Ulrich Khuon on the situation of the theatres

by Vladimir Balzer, Ulrich Khuon (19 Apr 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk Kultur

In view of the first easing that German politics announces in the corona crisis, the director of the German Theater Ulrich Khuon finds it extremely worrying that artists do not seem to be involved in the thinking and speaking of politics. He accuses politicians of a breach of trust, which also shows that the importance of culture as an important political sphere of action is not recognized.

tag Theater Spielzeit
Performing Arts/ Cinema Interview

Vor dem Ersticken
Before suffocation

by Andreas Kilb (18 Apr 2020)
Original source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The initial easing of the situation towards a normal everyday life allows the citizens in Germany to breathe a sigh of relief. But that does not apply to the cultural sector. In the »name of epidemiological reason« culture is being squeezed all the breath out. With this image, Andreas Kilb illustrates very impressively the situation in the creative industry since the start of the lockdown and fears that many will not survive the stranglehold for much longer.

tag Hartz IV Lebensmittel Monika Grütters Markus Söder
Performing Arts/ Cinema Debatte

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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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