TRANSFORMATIONS

TRANSFORMATIONS

Positions on the transformation of the art and cultural landscape from the arts, politics and journalism

July 2021 saw the release of a publication in which the Fonds invited cultural policy representatives of the federal, state and local governments from the entire democratic political spectrum to shed light on the independent performing arts and their special working and funding situation in the cultural policy arena. How crisis-proof are the independent performing arts? How independent are they and what role do they play in society as a whole – regionally and nationally? What political developments can be expected after the crisis caused by the pandemic? The contributions from those working in cultural policy were expanded by positions of artists from the field of the independent performing arts and rounded off by journalistic commentaries.

With contributions from:

Veronica Kaup-Hasler | Executive City Councilor for Culture and Science of the City of Vienna, Gerhart Baum | Chairman of the Board of the Kulturrat NRW, former Federal Minister of the Interior (FDP), Melanie Bernstein | MP (CDU/CSU), Chairwoman of the Committee on Culture and Media, Helge Lindh | MP (SPD), Member of the Committee on Culture and Media, Erhard Grundl | MP (Greens), Member of the Committee on Culture and Media, Dr. Klaus Lederer | Deputy Mayor and Senator for Culture and Europe of the City of Berlin (Left Party), Dr. Carsten Brosda | Senator for Culture and Media of the City of Hamburg (SPD), Sabine Bangert | Member of Berlin Parliament (Greens), Chairwoman of the Committee for Cultural Affairs, Professor Julia Lehner | Deputy Mayor of the City of Nuremberg with responsibility for Culture (CSU), Annekathrin Klepsch | Deputy Mayor and Councilor for Culture and Tourism of the State Capital Dresden (Left Party) and Stephan Hoffmann, Simone Dede Ayivi |Theater maker, Sahar Rahimi | Theater maker (Monstertruck), Stefan Kaegi | Director (among others, Rimini Protokoll), Sibylle Peters | freelance artist (e.g. collaboration with geheimagentur), Mirjam Schmuck and Fabian Lettow | theater makers (kainkollektiv), Sivan Ben Yishai | author, theater director

and reflections by the journalists:

Margarete Affenzeller, Janis El-Bira, Petra Kohse, Peter Grabowski, Dorte Lena Eilers and Eva Behrendt.

TRANSFORMATIONS

Talks and Positions from the Independent Performing Arts

On June 5, 2021, the Fonds hosted the online event "TRANSFORMATIONEN - Gespräche und Positionen aus den Freien Darstellenden Künsten" ("TRANSFORMATION - Talks and Positions from the Independent Performing Arts") as part of the festival "Claiming Common Spaces III" of the Alliance of International Production Houses at Kampnagel, in order to question the potential for transformation and the changes to the framework conditions of independent production with actors from the independent performing arts. Where artistic and social processes closely intertwine and art in its contemplation coincides with the moment of its creation, there lies a transformative power for social design processes, to which the Fonds is increasingly dedicated.

Sahar Rahimi (Monster Truck), Stefan Kaegi (Rimini Protokoll), and kainkollektiv came together for a discussion here. Accompanied by video statements by Sibylle Peters (geheimagentur), Simone Dede Ayivi as well as Sivan Ben Yishai and moderated by Margarita Tsomou, the discussion gathered together these artistic perspectives and once again broached the question "What does art need?"