5. Events and Discourse
© Dorothea Tuch
THE ART OF STAYING MANYTabori PrizeBUNDESTREFFEN25
Accompanying its funding activities, the Fonds repeatedly creates spaces for critical exchange and dialog - within the independent performing arts across Germany, but also between art, politics and society. Specialist events provide new impetus for funding activities and ensure an exchange between artists across federal states. Award ceremonies draw attention to outstanding artistic positions. Thematic events open up current discourses to the public.
THE ART OF STAYING MANY
Film Premiere & Fonds-Anniversary
In the summer of 2024, forums on art, freedom, and democracy toured Germany for three months under the title “The Art of Staying Many”. They were accompanied by a film crew led by director Felix Meyer-Christian, as well as actors Tina Pfurr and Hauke Heumann. In conversations with politicians, international directors, artists, and social workers, they posed central questions: How do we learn to argue properly again? What role do the arts play in a polarized socio-political climate?
The film premiered on March 12, 2025, at Berlin’s Sophiensaele—as part of the Fonds' 40th anniversary. Claudia Roth, Member of the German Bundestag and Minister of State for Culture (20th legislative period), and Milo Rau, Artistic Director of the Vienna Festival, provided a retrospective and outlook on politics, society, and current events. At the reception that followed, board members Wolfgang Schneider and Amelie Deuflhard honored the long-standing commitment of the member associations and their practitioners to the independent performing arts.
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Trailer „THE ART OF STAYING MANY"
What is “THE ART OF STAYING MANY” in times of social division? Actors Tina Pfurr and Hauke Heumann embark on a cinematic journey through eight cities, gathering powerful voices from the worlds of art, politics, and science in Dresden, Erfurt, and Berlin. Between market stalls and box seats, new housing developments and Weimar Classicism, they seek out the common threads that connect the arts in history, the present, and the future.
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© Dorothea Tuch
40 Jahre Fonds Darstellende Künste
In his opening remarks on the evening of the film premiere of “The Art of Staying Many” and the 40th anniversary of the Fonds Darstellende Künste, managing director Holger Bergmann reflects on the unifying power of art and the current challenges facing “the art of remaining many.”
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© Dorothea Tuch
„The Art of Staying Many"
Milo Rau, artistic director of the Wiener Festspiele, spoke at the premiere of the film “The Art of Staying Many” about the current threats to democracy and civil society, as well as the power of empathy and diversity.
You can read the full speech here.
Forum for Art, Freedom, and Democracy: Germany & Europe
The Fonds Darstellende Künste continued its national event series “Die Kunst, Viele zu bleiben – Bundesweite Foren für Kunst, Freiheit und Demokratie“ and was a guest at the European Capital of Culture in 2025, Chemnitz – with controversial positions from the spheres of art and media and a cinematic journey between Weimar classicism, market and box seats.
Speakers and panel guests were Philipp Ruch (Zentrum für politische Schönheit), Sasha Marianna Salzmann (playwright), Simon Strauß (author, journalist). Moderated by Natascha Freundel from rbb, the discussion is also available as a podcast.
The following day, the fund presented the film “Die Kunst, Viele zu bleiben” at the Metropol Kino, followed by an audience discussion with director Felix Meyer-Christian.
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© Dorothea Tuch
Lectures
How does history repeat itself? What does racism mean today? And what role does art play in political times? Three incisive keynote speeches provide food for thought: Philipp Ruch calls for civil society vigilance, Sasha Marianna Salzmann recounts personal and collective experiences with racism, and Simon Strauß questions the freedom of art.
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© Dorothea Tuch
Podcast
Following the three keynote speeches, Philipp Ruch, Sasha Marianna Salzmann, and Simon Strauß will discuss the role of art, memory, and social engagement. Moderated by Natascha Freundel, a multifaceted conversation about the challenges of our time will unfold. The conversation has been released as a podcast entitled “Der zweite Gedanke” (The Second Thought) by rbb – listen now!
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© Silvan Hagenbrock
Highlights
A look back at the two-day event in pictures, along with more information about the program.
Tabori Prize 2025
On September 25, 2025, at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, the Fonds Darstellende Künste awarded the Tabori Prize, worth 100,000 euros, to the children’s and youth theater group pulk fiktion. The jury recognized the group’s longstanding, innovative work for young audiences, which shapes social and artistic discourse and “gives young people a stage: as audiences, co-creators, and bearers of the future.” The award ceremony took place as part of the BUNDESTREFFEN25 of the Independent Performing Arts in Berlin.
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#introducing: pulk fiktion
What did you think when you found out you had won the Tabori Prize? What defines your artistic profile? We asked pulk fiktion – and they answered. They share their thoughts in short statements.
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© Christian Knieps
The big swimming pool feeling
The theater group pulk fiktion receives the fund's Tabori Prize 2025. Hannah Biedermann and Lisa Zehetner, the artistic directors, talk to Christine Wahl about the Tabori Prize 2025.
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© Dorothea Tuch
Tabori Award Ceremony 2025
Highlights of this year’s Tabori Awards Ceremony: Meet the jury, read the full jury statement, and discover the best moments in photos and videos. Immerse yourself in a special evening of the independent performing arts!
The Show Must Go On - BUNDESTREFFEN25 of the Independent Performing Arts
Social and political upheavals present new challenges for the independent performing arts. At BUNDESTREFFEN25 on September 25 and 26, 2025, several hundred stakeholders from the arts, cultural policy, and civil society gathered at HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin to strengthen the creative power of this art form and develop perspectives for its future. Through panels, workshops, and dialogue formats, participants discussed gaps, potential, and the question: How relevant are the independent arts today?
Focused working groups explored key themes in depth. Panel discussions with experts such as Nino Haratischwili, Cesy Leonhardt, Julia Reuschenbach, Carena Schlewitt, and Julian Warner shed light on the interplay between art and politics. Cultural policy insights from Nancy Faeser (SPD), Ottilie Klein (CDU), Sven Lehmann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), and Martin Rabanus (SPD) opened up space for new perspectives and broader dialogues—for an art that remains close to its audience and expands the horizons of thought.
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Art requires freedom and courage
The Fonds managing director, Holger Bergmann, looks back on two intensive days of events, the results of the individual workshops, important insights from the panel discussions and statements: Art needs freedom and courage to face current social challenges, art needs stable funding beyond the logic of individual projects – and it needs “alliances that are bigger than ourselves.”
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© Dorothea Tuch
„Under Pressure"
The BUNDESTREFFEN25 of the Independent Performing Arts at HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin, with its motto “The Show Must Go On,” provided an opportunity for coming together, exchanging views, taking stock, discussions and looking to the future. Impressions of the two-day event by cultural journalist Thomas Kaestle.
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© Dorothea Tuch
Highlights
At BUNDESTREFFEN25, it was clear to see how cultural spaces are changing and what questions are being posed to the arts. Encounters, debates, and aesthetic inspiration shaped these two intense days. More impressions, voices, and images can be found on the following page.
