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.


 

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

Kulturaufstand in Frankreich . Eine Stunde Theater trotz Lockdown
Cultural Uprising in France . One hour theatrer despite lockdown

by Eberhard Spreng, Eckhard Roelcke (30 Jan 2021)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk Kultur

The mayor of Marseille Benoît Payan, together with other cities and independent theaters, has called for civil disobedience: Theaters should play for one hour in the afternoon. The initiative »Théatres Ouverts«  originally comes from smaller theaters. The mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, took up the initiative and thus ensured a large public. In Avignon, where the initiative originated, the short-term opening of the theater was prevented by the police. In other places, poems were read or tango danced.
The contribution of Beno&i circ;t Payan is the announcement of a manifesto that advocates the opening of theaters. The idea is to play mainly outdoors in the south of France to minimize the risk of contagion. The »hour of disobedience« is directed primarily against the government in Paris and here above all against President Emmanuel Macron, who currently pays little attention to culture. However, the attitude of Benoît Payan is very ambivalent, since in the middle of the week he was still urging to follow the rules to contain the pandemic due to the increase in infections.

 

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tag Theater Freie Szene ziviler Ungehorsam Théatres Ouverts Benoît Payan
Performing Arts/ Cinema Interview

Die Literaturszene verliert ihre Foren . Absage der Leipziger Buchmesse
The literary scene loses its forums . Cancellation of the Leipzig Book Fair

by Helmut Böttiger (29 Jan 2021)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk Kultur

The Leipzig Book Fair will not take place in 2021 either. Even the postponement to the beginning of May seems untenable for a major event. For the industry in transition, the cancellation is a painful loss, not only financially, because what is currently understood as literature and how it is talked about has changed noticeably. Today, literature is a small market segment of the so-called culture industry and is no longer a place of debate about aesthetic standards and socio-political issues.  An indicator for this is the announcement of the WDR to go new ways in li terature reviews. The book fair would have offered publishers and authors a forum to exchange ideas about this structural crisis.

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tag Buchmesse Literaturkritik Verlage Event Quo vadis ars
Literature/ Text Kommentar

Leipziger Buchmesse abgesagt
Leipzig Book Fair canceled

by Martin Hoferick (29 Jan 2021)
Original source: Kulturzeit

A major event is currently hardly plannable and so it is not surprising that the director of the Leipzig Book Fair, Oliver Zille, announced this week with a heavy heart the cancellation of this year's fair. Precisely because Leipzig relies on so many forms of encounter, the fair is hardly safe to hold this year. A shift to the digital is out of question for the organizers, because here the personal encounter as a central element of the Leipzig fair cannot be adequately implemented. The format itself will definitely be retained in the coming years, the situation on th e book market is good despite the cancellation. Nevertheless, Andreas Rötzer from the publishing house Matthes und Seitz demands that support for the industry must be considered if other major events are cancelled in the course of the year. A vaccination center will now be set up in the exhibition halls this far.

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tag Buchmesse Buchbranche Digitalisierung Begegnung Großveranstaltungen
Literature/ Text Bericht

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

Unterschätztes Schwergewicht in EU . Kultursektor mit 199 Milliarden Verlust
Underestimated heavyweight in EU . Cultural sector with 199 billion loss

by Stefan Weiss (26 Jan 2021)
Original source: Der Standard

That the cultural sector makes an important contribution to value creation in EU countries is no secret, nor is the fact that it has been hit disproportionately harder than other sectors of the economy in the Corona crisis. The »Rebuilding Europe« study commissioned by collecting societies now provides the figures on the crisis for the first time. Looking at the industry as a whole, there is a 31 percent drop in revenue in 2020 compared to 2019. In individual sectors such as theater or opera, with a minus 90 percent (37 billion euros), and music, with a minus 76 percent (18 billion euros), the losses are even more dramatic. This means that the cultural sector has been hit much harder by the crisis than, for example, tourism (minus 27 percent) or the automotive industry (minus 25 percent). Not only is there currently no end of the crisis on the horizon, but the industry is also concerned with the question of whether the public will quickly regain its trust in cultural institutions after the crisis. The demand is therefore that the current support programs should continue to run generously after the crisis.

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tag Rebuilding Europe EU-Studie Bruttowertschöpfung Kulturbranche Umsatzeinbruch
All sections Bericht

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

»Die freien Schauspieler sind überhaupt nicht abgesichert« . Metropoltheater München in der Coronakrise

by Jochen Schölch, Maja Ellmenreich (29 Dec 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk

Independent theatres are particularly affected by the crisis. The Metropoltheater itself, as Jochen Schölch, artistic director and founder of the Metropol, reported in an interview with Deutschlandfunk, will get through the crisis thanks to a grant from the city of Munich. Nevertheless, the theatre is currently short about 450,000 euros, which were financed from reserves from previous years. The shortfall is due to the fact that the theatre pays the actors, all of whom are only booked for individual productions, the equivalent of short-time allowance, to which actor s working on freelance contracts are not entitled. Since actors often switch between permanent employment and freelance contracts, they currently fall through the cracks of state aid. In addition to the city of Munich, the theatre is supported by non-refunded tickets and donations from the Friends of the Theatre.
Even though the theatre has come through the crisis well so far, the artistic director is still worried whether the audience will return to the theatre after the lockdown or whether they have become so accustomed to Netflix and the like that they will no longer leave the house to visit the theatre in the evening. The question of whether actors will still be available is also on his mind. Those who have the opportunity are currently signing a contract for a television series in order to be able to fall back on a permanent income.
In an online presentation with short, associative video clips, the Metropoltheater has reflected on what theatre after Corona could look like. There is no streaming offer, however, as they are convinced that theatre can only be experienced in analogue form. 

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tag Theater Schauspieler*innen Streaming Unterstützung Finanzierung Kurzarbeit Quo vadis ars
Performing Arts/ Cinema Interview

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.

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tag Kino Streaming Blockbuster Misstrauen Krise als Chance
Performing Arts/ Cinema Bericht

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Facing arts is a non-profi project. Feel free to support it and get in touch with us!

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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