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.


 

Ein Wort geht um auf deutschsprachigen Bühnen: der »Premierenstau«
A word is circulating on German-speaking stages: the »premiere backlog«

by Bernd Noack (29 Jan 2021)
Original source: Neue Züricher Zeitung

While the theatres had still hoped to reopen soon with the announcement of a lockdown light in November, the date for the start of productions seems to have receded into the distant future. While many theatres were still working on new productions in November and December, rehearsals have now largely stopped. Frustration in the ensembles is growing, as it is even less foreseeable than in the spring when a return to normal operations will be possible. As at the beginning of the season in autumn, audiences can then expect a flurry of premieres, as the new productions are j ust waiting to be presented. Until then, on the one hand, crisis management is in demand at the theatres, which - according to many theatre managers - is basically part of their everyday business. On the other hand, Nicolas Stemann from the Schauspielhaus Zurich asks the justified question of whether one can continue to plan with a theatre repertoire operation or whether the houses should not use the current situation to try out new formats and a new kind of artistic activity. 

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tag Theater Systemrelevanz Lockdown Premierenstau Quo vadis ars Planungssicherheit
Performing Arts/ Cinema Bericht

Theater, Opern- und Konzerthäuser sind keine Infektionsorte
Theaters, opera houses and concert halls are not places of infection

by Deutscher Bühnenverein (27 Oct 2020)
Original source: Deutscher Bühnenverein

In an urgent letter, Ulrich Khuon as President and Marc Grandmontagne as Managing Director of the German Stage Association address the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the State Premiers. As they have already pointed out several times in the media over the past few days, they once again underline that, for physical reasons, mass contagion in theaters, opera houses and concert halls is not possible. They therefore ask that a reasonable decision is taken during the consultations of the Ministerial Conference and that the venues do not close. These are indispensable cult ural spaces for society. Therefore, it is not only important not to lose the trust of the public that has just been regained, but also to save small and medium-sized institutions from ruin.

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tag Hygienekonzepte Ansteckungsgefahr Schließungen Verhältnismäßigkeit Gefährdung der Kulturnation
Performing Arts/ Cinema Offener Brief

Coronaregeln in Theatern . Gute Chancen für weitere Lockerungen
Corona regulations in theatres . good chances for further easing

by Ulrich Khuon, Vladimir Balzer (07 Sep 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk Kultur

The theaters, operas and concert halls are the safest public spaces. Ulrich Khuon, director of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin and president of the German Stage Association (Deutscher Bühnenverein), is convinced that infections in theaters are largely ruled out. The ventilation systems in most theaters are excellent, and strict attention is paid to the observance of hygiene rules by the audience and staff. Even in the event of an infection, the tracking of people is no problem, unlike in the bus and train. And so Ulrich Khuon pleads - also in view of the successful Salzburg Festival - for further relaxation in the event area, which should be as uniform as possible for all federal states: one meter distance is justifiable based on current experience. The confidence of the visitors has also grown in recent weeks to such an extent that the innovations have been accepted.
Khuon sees a danger in the tendency of many houses to start the season with short plays. Quickly edible formats that do not cause any problems should not dominate the program. One could also reconsider breaks at the moment.
Khuon critically refers to a current statement by Bavarian Prime Minister Söder, who has drafted a clear hierarchy of easing: First comes economic life, then schools and daycare centers. If things run smoothly and without contagion here again, one could also take care of sports and culture. The fact that even after half a year, one of the most important figures in crisis management has still not come to the conclusion that culture is an important economic factor in Germany outrages the chairman of the German Stage Association.

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tag Theater Abstandsregeln Schachbrettmuster Salzburger Festspiele Deutscher Bühnenverein
All sections Interview

Kommunen, Verbände, Künstler - der »Kulturpolitische Salon« im DLF Kultur diskutiert verschiedene Sichtweisen auf das Kulturpaket. Fazit: Die langfristigen Folgen der Krise sind noch nicht absehbar. . Kann das Milliardenpaket des Bundes die Kultur retten?
Leaving the Corona crisis behind with a . Can the federal government's billion-euro package save culture?

by Skadi Jennicke, Ulrich Khuon, Dagmar Schmidt, Wolfgang Schmidt, Olaf Zimmermann, Hans Dieter Heimendahl (12 Jun 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk Kultur

As part of the economic stimulus package, the German Federal Government has provided one billion euros for the protection of the infrastructure in the cultural and creative industries with its "Restart Culture" programme. In the new format of Deutschlandfunk, the "Cultural Policy Salon", representatives from various sectors are discussing about the significance of the government's cultural package in the current situation and how the exit strategy from the crisis could look like for the sector. The participants agree that the economic stimulus pac kage is an important signal for the sector, but it is still seen as a form of emergency aid. The crisis is far from over, many cultural institutions are still in test mode. As the municipalities and institutions are still reacting to the crisis, they hope for some deceleration, so that there is again time for a reflective approach to the demands of the new everyday life.

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tag Konjunkturpaket Neustart Kultur Kulturförderung Bundesregierung Verbände Kommunen
All sections Diskussion

»Es gab keine Kommunikation zwischen Theater und Politik« . Öffnung von Theatern und Opernhäusern
»There was no communication between theatre and politics« . Opening ot theatres and opera houses

by Barbara Behrendt, Michael Schmitz-Aufterbeck (31 May 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk

Around 30 employees at the Aachen Theater had Covid 19 in March. Even though the state government of NRW allows the theaters to reopen on May 31, a regular program will only be played in Aachen in compliance with the hygiene rules at the beginning of the new season. Then only smaller productions will be shown in front of a significantly reduced audience.
The general director Michael Schmitz-Aufterbeck is irritated in the conversation that the politicians have not previously sought a dialogue with the persons engaged in the cultural sector. He describes in great de tail the difficulty of implementing the requirements for his employees, as the rooms are particularly limited on back stage and are sometimes very narrow.

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tag Theater Oper Öffnung Hygieneregeln Kommunikation Spielplan Ulrich Khuon
Performing Arts/ Cinema Interview

Hygieneregeln . Dem Publikum stehen keine leichten Zeiten bevor
Hygiene Guidelines . The audience is not facing easy times.

by Jörg Häntzschel (19 May 2020)
Original source: Süddeutsche Zeitung

In the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Jörg Häntzschel takes a critical look at the hygiene rules that the Ministers of Culture of the federal states have drawn up together with Monika Grütters, federal Minister of State for Culture, for theaters, opera houses and concert halls. The many interventions and specifications for the operation of the theaters make it clear that even the reopening will be associated with heavy financial losses if the distance rule of 1.50 meters distance has to be implemented. In addition, not only the air conditioning technology must be adapted, but also the health of the visitors and the distance of the employees - i.e. the artistic actors on stage and during rehearsals - must be kept in mind. Only a small ray of hope remains here that the regulations are to apply to the whole of Germany and that not every federal state will introduce its own rules. But what concerns Häntzschel more than the concrete hygiene rules is the way in which artists are currently treated in political discourse. On the one hand, art is transfigured to a kind of »secular universal religion«, which is supposed to be a »therapy against loneliness, a weapon against populism and the humus of democracy«. The author sees a form of »cultural war economy« in the very detailed recommendations as to how the houses should fill the time until the resumption of play. After all, the paper shows little confidence in the creativity of the industry, which is not only given the marching orders by the ministers, but also the way to go.

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tag Theater Kino Oper Hygieneregeln Universalreligion Monika Grütters kulturelle Kriegswirtschaft
Performing Arts/ Cinema 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

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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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