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.


 

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

Schauspielhaus-Intendant Stemann: «Uns ist die Fähigkeit abhandengekommen, mit anderen Menschen mitzufühlen»

by Julia Stephan, Nicolas Stemann (22 Dec 2020)
Original source: Tagblatt

Working creatively and productively with the resistances that the Corona crisis means for theater professionals, that is the trademark of Nicolas Stemann, the co-director of the Schauspielhaus Zürich. Already last spring, he accompanied life during the pandemic critically and humorously at the same time with columns for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the 'Corona Passion Plays'. In his home office he wrote songs for the Passion Plays, as it was not possible for him to discuss developments during the suspended rehearsals. Nevertheless, he also sees the nega tive sides of the pandemic. Workflows have to be rethought, premieres postponed, casts minimized, schedules rescheduled - of course, this also means a great burden. On the one hand, this increases the workload for many, and on the other hand, it is extremely stressful, especially for actors, if they cannot rehearse with a goal in mind. This is one of the reasons why the Schauspielhaus Zurich very successfully offers a live-streamed performance once a week. 
It is important for Stemann to emphasize that the theaters consider the closure of the houses to be an important contribution to the fight against the pandemic. His only concern is that it may have too little impact by placing too few restrictions in other areas. With regard to the concerns and problems of people during the pandemic, he considers art and culture to be extremely important in order to negotiate the open questions together in a discussion space and to find an outlet for emotions. The fact that this is not available at the moment, but that instead emotions such as hatred and incomprehension are acted out in social networks, is for him one of the major problems of the theater closures.

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tag Theater Tod Streaming Arbeitsalltag psychische Belastung Quo vadis ars
Performing Arts/ Cinema Interview

Technik statt Theater? . Über das Bezahlmodell Streaming an deutschsprachigen Bühnen
Technics instead of theatre? . About the streaming payment model at German-language stages

by Barbara Behrendt (22 Dec 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk

During the first Lockdown, the theatres mainly offered internal recordings of performances in streaming, but since November there has been an increase in plays that were explicitly developed for live streaming. These productions are linked to online payment models. Here, the audience can only watch a live stream after having purchased a ticket. This is increasingly important for theatre professionals. Not only does it prevent viewers from switching from theatre to theatre, as in the case of television, but above all the ticket purchase valorises the cultural experience. In addition, the theatres can cover at least part of their expenses. If, as in Leonie Böhm's  ›Leonce und Leonce‹ at the Schauspielhaus Zurich, the director Leonie Böhm herself directs the six cameras and thus guides the view, then the theatre evening also promises an artistic concept. Pure documentaries with rigid camera work, on the other hand, fail the critics. The Deutsches Theater in Berlin is still cautious about live streaming, as audience numbers for productions that have to be paid for have dropped into the mid-three-digit range. The Sophiensäle in Berlin were also quite positive about live performances by the group Interrobang. However, even for events in the theatre here, the attendance figures are very reduced compared to streamings. Experimentation with streaming and hybrid forms, the theatre-makers agree, will continue to develop its own forms of presentation after the lockdown. In the crisis, streaming seems to offer theatre-makers a welcome field of experimentation to creatively find answers to the closed houses and to keep in touch with their audiences.

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tag Theater Streaming Bezahlmodelle digitale Expertise Hypridmodelle Quo vadis ars
Performing Arts/ Cinema Bericht

Kino in Corona-Zeit . Rückblick aufs (Katastrophen-) Filmjahr
Cinema in times of Corona . Review of the (disaster) film year

by Walli Müller (20 Dec 2020)
Original source: NDR

The annual reviews begin in mid-December. The film industry and cinema operators were particularly hard hit in 2020. While the start of the year with the 'Kangaroo Chronicles' still looked quite good, the Corona pandemic led to a 70 percent drop in sales for the year as a whole. The reason for this are not only the Hollywood blockbusters, which will not be screened until next year, and the competition from streaming providers, but above all the reduced space available and the renewed lockdown in November. German productions like 'Undine' and 'Berlin A lexanderplatz' reached only a small audience despite awards and good reviews. Only the children's film was able to show good attendance figures with 'Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13', despite the small amount of space available, November started promisingly.

On a positive note, 2020 saw the revival of drive-in cinemas and hybrid film festivals that made it open to more than just local visitors through online access. Nevertheless, the closures and the competition from streaming platforms are making it difficult for cinemas to operate. Three cinemas had to file for insolvency this year due to corona; whether these are the only victims of the industry will become clear in 2021.

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tag 2020 Kino Filmstarts Umsatzverlust Streaming Insolvenz
Performing Arts/ Cinema Jahresrückblick

Place de la Bastille, la culture crie sa colère face au “mépris” du gouvernement
Place de la Bastille, the culture cries out in anger at the government's »contempt«

by Sophie Rahal (15 Dec 2020)
Original source: Télérama'

The French government's recent decision not to reopen cultural institutions on 15 December is leading to nationwide demonstrations by cultural workers from a wide range of disciplines, from street art to contemporary music and visual artists. The discontent articulated in Montpellier or in the historic Place de la Bastille in Paris is directed against the »contempt« articulated in government conduct. But it expresses also the financial precariousness that affects many of them despite state aid measures. The cultural workers are not asking for special trea tment but lamenting the injustice because despite all the health precautions taken to keep audiences safe, theatres and cinemas remain closed while commerce and churches are allowed to reopen. Actor Samuel Churin warns: »But [...] since the government has made a political decision, [...] we have to go into resistance. We will invade churches, shopping malls, auction houses.... And we will put on shows there«. He is one of the co-initiators of an emergency motion to be set up at the Conseil d'État on 16 December demanding the reopening of the venues.

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tag Widerstand Frankreich Gleichbehandlung Prekariat Theater Kirche Kino
All sections Bericht

Transformed by crisis, arts criticism may never be the same. And that’s a good thing.

by Philip Kennicott (29 Nov 2020)
Original source: Washington Post

The pandemic has freed critics from their usual patterns, opening new perspectives and insight. But the crisis also reveals the economic vulnerability of so many people in the arts field, which implicates also anti-elitist aspect: What becomes apparent is the geographical dispersion of the arts, so it breaks with the established conception of artists to belong to the so-called »coastal elites«. The author also believes that »one of the more rigorous of the old rules that is falling away is the church-state division between artists and critics, a red lin e that made them often seem to be antagonists.« Last but not least the crisis triggers a kind of disciplined essentialism: We concentrate on what really interests us and pay more attention to it. Consequently, criticism will be »more personal, more to the point, more empathetic, more open and less formulaic.«

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tag USA Elite Kunstkritik Empathie
Visual Arts/Design Statement

Theater in Sachsen-Anhalt bleiben dicht: »Das ist eine Katastrophe« . Corona-Beschränkungen werden verlängert
Theatres in Saxony-Anhalt remain closed: »This is a catastrophe« . Corona restrictions are extended

by Luca Deutschländer (26 Nov 2020)
Original source: MDR

Cultural workers across the country are frustrated: Lockdown light will be extended into December as well. Janek Liebetruth, independent director and artistic director as well as chairman of the State Centre for Independent Theatre in Saxony-Anhalt sums up the significance of the further closure: »This is a catastrophe«. For theatres in particular, December is the month with the highest turnover. The houses can hardly compensate for the loss of income. Actress Kerstin Dathe, who works in puppet theatre, would have had about 30 performances until Christmas. Wo rries about the future and, above all, the question of whether the state-promised aid will actually take effect are on the minds of the cultural workers. It is uncertain when they will be allowed to perform again. Optimism is increasingly difficult in this situation.
Liebetruth demands that the economic losses suffered by cultural workers be compensated. Programmes like »Neustart Kultur« have the task of preventing a cultural death by offering a perspective for the coming year. What the cultural sector also needs is planning security, because only this can alleviate the frustration somewhat.

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tag November-Lockdown Theater Planungssicherheit Advent Kultursterben Neustart Kultur
Performing Arts/ Cinema Bericht

Die Seele leidet - Weihnachtszeit ohne Kulturveranstaltungen
The soul suffers - Christmas time without cultural events

by Maria Ossowski (26 Nov 2020)
Original source: Deutschlandfunk

The extension of the Lockdown light into December means renunciation for many people. By this, journalist Maria Ossowski does not primarily mean the cultural workers and restaurateurs, who are not allowed to offer their services in the last month of the year either. She is referring to the approximately nine million museum visitors or one and a half million people who attend an opera, theater, concert or reading in Germany each month - which they are currently not allowed to do, despite excellently prepared hygiene concerts. The cultural workers themselves - according to the subtext of the admonition of the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Culture Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen not to demand a special treatment again - are not entitled to defend themselves against the recent professional ban. After all, the November subsidies will be paid out at some point.

Ossowski proves that this argumentation is wrong. It is not a question of prohibition to work, nor is it a question of how Christmas can be celebrated in the family circle. Because this argumentation overlooks the fact that Christmas does not mean pure happiness for everyone. People who have to cope with family losses or separations, who live alone or are ill, often find the Christmas season a great emotional burden. For these people, culture provides solace in the pre-Christmas period. Many would therefore have done anything to give the pre-Christmas season an inner meaning through cultural events. The mental needs of these humans are put aside in favor of gifts and Christmas goose in the family circle, thereby we should be particularly concerned in the Advent about their well-being.

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tag Dezember-Lockdown Kulturveranstaltungen Advent Einsamkeit Trost Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen
All sections Kommentar

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The signet of facing arts joining the faces of STORM.

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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