40 years of the Fonds Darstellende Künste, supporting the arts, politics and society

The Fonds Darstellende Künste turns 40 this year – and is marking the occasion with a retrospective of last summer’s event series “THE ART OF STAYING MANY,” which culminates[sd2.1] in a film premiere on March 12, 2025 at Berlin’s Sophiensæle. Director Felix Meyer-Christian and his team filmed the nine-part series in Berlin, Potsdam, Leipzig, Dresden, Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Erfurt, Düsseldorf and Weimar. Actors Tina Pfurr and Hauke Heumann embark on a cinematic journey, gathering voices from the worlds of the arts, politics and academia, and searching – between market stalls and box seats, new housing estates and Weimar classicism – for what unites the arts across the past, present and future.

In his opening speech, Holger Bergmann pays tribute to the director and his team for their successful piece of work, and thanks the pioneers and supporters of the Fonds attending the event, including Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, department heads Andreas Görgen and Konrad Schmidt-Werthern, as well as other staff members of the Federal Ministry of Culture (BKM), Members of the Bundestag Awet Tesfaiesus and Anikó Glogowski-Merten, Manfred Stoffl from the Goethe-Institut and numerous artists from the independent performing arts scene across Germany. Special thanks go to Milo Rau, artistic director of the Wiener Festwochen, who travelled here to give a special address in which he reflects on current political events, film and the work of the Fonds and the arts. Taking the film’s title as his starting point, he explores the question of what constitutes the “art of staying many” in times of social upheaval, and what unites us – in society and on this evening:

“What unites all of us here in the Sophiensæle – despite our differences – are two things: We still know that the promise of fundamental rights does not apply only to ourselves, but is always plural in nature, in the sense of Hannah Arendt’s ‘a right to rights’ for all who live here – and, ideally, elsewhere too. And we are united by the certainty that it’s precisely the independent arts, which often work closely with, for and alongside the people, that can give this promise an aesthetic form: sometimes shouting it out loud, sometimes whispering it softly and tenderly.

Arts that shock us where humanity is violated, but above all that can connect us with one another, so that we may experience ourselves as who we are, but also as who we would like to be or could be.

The arts can explore what actually connects people as human beings, but also what is currently changing us so profoundly and turning us against one another:
How can people become so evil that they deny persecuted and threatened people the right to asylum, to a place to call home (whether first, second or third), or the right to love or even to live?

As Hannah Arendt described it, evil can ‘lay waste to the whole world, precisely because it continues to spread like a fungus across the surface of the earth.’ What can be done to combat this? Performative practice can look back to its origins again to find answers. It’s the secular specialist in recognizing and negotiating humanity and inhumanity – good or evil and everything in between. Sociological, political, empirical, participatory, conceptual, however the work is carried out – but above all aesthetic and empathetic.

In times of growing division, the Fonds sought, through the national forums, to use the independent arts, discussions and actions at nine locations to bring artists, residents, intellectuals, academics and politicians back into dialogue in order to oppose all forms of polarization.

Working with many partners, the Fonds initiated these forums, which were curated by Felizitas Stilleke. Thank you for enabling us to raise the profile of this work – often long-standing – in Erfurt, Leipzig, Potsdam, Berlin, Dresden, Weimar, Düsseldorf and Bitterfeld-Wolfen. Thank you to Anke Politz, Aljoscha Begrich, Anne-Cathrin Lessel, Thomas Frank, Heikki Ikola, Carena Schlewitt, Jens Hillje, Andrea Niederbuchner, Annemie Vanackere, Rolf C. Hemke and Kathrin Tiedemann, and many more.

I remember – oh, see for yourselves!

On behalf of the Fonds, Felix Meyer-Christian has made a film from the series that is more than just a documentary. It’s a journey through a time of upheaval in this country, through the efforts, weariness and enthusiasm on the path toward ‘staying many’ as an offer of a collective connection of living contradictions, precisely because evil is rampant once again...

After the film, the Fonds would like to invite you to a reception downstairs in the canteen, and after some light snacks and drinks, the Fonds’ board will pay tribute to the member organizations and activists’ 40 years of engagement.

Now, before the film, we look forward to the speech by Claudia Roth, followed by Milo Rau, fresh from the ‘Republik der Liebe.’
And the fact that it’s the two of you speaking here today is a blessing and a source of hope for what unites us.
I love you all.