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.
Beendet den kulturellen Notstand! . 100 Tage Kultur im Lockdown
Stop the cultural emergency! . 100 Days of Culture in Lockdown
by René Schlott (08 Feb 2021)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk Kultur
Cultural institutions in Germany have been closed for 100 days. The representatives of the interests of those working in the cultural sector are barely succeeding in making their voices heard. Emergency decisions such as the closure of all Berlin theaters until Easter are hailed as a victory for planning security, rather than a loss of cultural participation. Instead - as historian René Schlott notes with surprise - statements that fuel the closure of the theaters are increasingly heard in the media. For example, the cancellation of the Leipzig Book Fair was greet ed with hope in a Berlin newspaper as a sign that other major events will soon be canceled.Positive examples such as the successful staging of the Salzburg Festival are no longer mentioned. On the last weekend in January, the mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, declared a »cultural state of emergency« as part of the »Théatres Ouverts« initiative. This must also be ended as quickly as possible in our country.
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tag kultureller Notstand Lockdown Theater Museen Planungssicherheit Benoît Payan Théatres Ouverts Berichterstattung All sections Appell
Aufgestaute Kreativität . Klassik-Profis in der Pandemie
Pent up creativity . Classic professionals in the pandemic
by Frederik Hanssen (02 Feb 2021)
Original source: Tagesspiegel
At the annual press conference of the German Orchestral Association this year, everything revolved around the nationwide silence in theaters and concert halls. Although short-time work is securing jobs in many city and state theaters and, with the exception of a few municipalities, no budget cuts have yet been felt this year, managing director Gerald Mertens urges that the houses must be opened as soon as possible. Thereby not country-wide incidence values should be taken as a basis, but those of the respective district. This early new start is especially important for f reelance musicians, who have been without income for almost a year. According to a representative survey, around 30 percent are already considering a change of profession. A temporary suspension of the artists' social security fund could help this professional group through the crisis. In the long term, an unemployment insurance system should be considered, which could be modeled according to the bad weather allowance of the construction industry, in order to avoid a similar critical situation in the future.
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tag Deutschen Orchestervereinigung Kurzarbeit stiller Tod Planungssicherheit Inzidenzwert Künstlersozialkasse Arbeitslosenversicherung Music Bericht
Diese Normalität darf nicht zurückkehren . Am Sinn für tatsächliche Relevanz herrscht im Kulturbetrieb erschreckender Mangel
This normality must not return . There is a frightening lack of a sense of actual relevance in the culture industry
by Peter Grabowski (01 Feb 2021)
Original source: Politik & Kultur
With a persistently high incidence value, Yilmaz Dziewior, the director of the Museum Ludwig, expressed the assumption in a mid-January interview on Deutschlandfunk that the museums will reopen in mid-February. In his commentary, Peter Grabowski takes this statement as an opportunity to reflect on the overconfidence of cultural workers in Germany. Democracy is not in danger just because the public is not allowed into museums and theatres. These are leisure facilities. Central social issues have long since ceased to be negotiated in a leading role in cultural institutions . Social media and the mass media play a much more central role in discourse here. Therefore, Grabowski calls on cultural practitioners to leave their ivory tower, acknowledge the reality of the pandemic and think about how cultural institutions can regain more relevance in society.
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tag Kulturszene Relevanz Selbstüberschätzung Yilmaz Dziewior Quo vadis ars Lockdown All sections Kommentar
So gefährlich war die Kunst noch selten . Aber der Kultur-Shutdown trifft uns alle
Art has rarely been so dangerous . But the culture shutdown affects us all
by Roman Bucheli (30 Dec 2020)
Original source: NZZ
Culture is currently banned from public space. This not only puts the livelihoods of cultural workers at risk, but is also a drastic experience for the community. The community lacks a place in which to experiment, formulate dissent, or test out ideas. Unlike in politics, the aim is not to assert one's own position, but to stimulate a discourse that forms a critical public sphere and thus drives the development of society. If it allows the individual to see the world with different eyes and to face the demands of everyday life more equanimously, an important task of culture is the humanization of society. Although art can also be enjoyed in isolation, it requires public space in order to help shape it. Karl Jaspers defined the public sphere as a prerequisite for truth, since the individual can only face up to debate in the public sphere. His disciple Hannah Arendt even spoke of the »venture of the public sphere«, since humanity can never be won in solitude. It takes public space to build a network of thoughts and relationships that encounter ideas from others and are considered before an audience. This is how a many-voiced conversation emerges. We are currently experiencing in online meetings that this is not possible in virtual space. The individual can cope with the absence of this analog exchange for a while, but society will break down in the long run.
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tag Gemeinwesen Öffentlichkeit Humanität DiskursKarl Jaspers Hannah Arendt Widerspruch All sections Kommentar
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
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
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.
Read More Read Lesstag Dezember-Lockdown Kulturveranstaltungen Advent Einsamkeit Trost Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen 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. Read More Read Less
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. Read More Read Less
tag New Deal Schule im Museum Künstlerförderung Solidarität Christina Végh Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen All sections Bericht
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
Stellungnahme der Kunstmuseen zur geplanten coronabedingten Schließung
Statement of the art museums on the planned closure due to corona
by Kunstmuseen (01 Nov 2020)
Original source: art-in.de
German museum directors, mainly from North Rhine-Westphalia, take a clear stand on the unexpected lockdown.For them, the closure of the museums, which they see primarily as educational institutions, is merely a »symbolic gesture« and ultimately a »wrong decision«, since museums are among the safest public places because of the measures taken.
