Background

Restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic have been in place in Berlin and all of Germany since the middle of March and they are now beginning to ease. For art and culture in the city, however, the song remains the same, a literal lockdown: theaters and concert venues are closed, planned tours have been cancelled, project spaces cannot host projects and there are no festivals, readings or concerts. A great deal has and will continue to be shifted to the internet; countless streaming events in the fields of music, theater, performance and dance are available every day, complete operas and festivals are being performed and held online and concert halls, galleries and museums can be visited virtually. The vast majority of this programming is offered free of charge out of solidarity.

The German Federal Government as well as Berlin’s Senate Departments have created a variety of aid programs for freelancers, but these are, unfortunately, incredibly far from sufficient. Added to this is the unfortunate fact that many freelance artists do not meet the requirements to receive this aid: artists who are currently in a rehearsal process are unable to benefit from compensation for performances that cannot take place. Guest performers at state and municipal theaters are also unable to apply for relief programs for freelancers as they have formal contracts, even if these are not upheld. Worst of all, most freelance artists and culture makers fall completely through the cracks of the German Federal government’s Soforthilfe II program, whose strict requirements are written generally for freelancers and fail to take freelance artists and culture makers into consideration. While there are, sadly, a multitude of other examples that can be named, the fact is that far too many artists in Berlin are currently unable to earn money and are forced to live off of their savings or from loans. Their livelihoods are under serious threat.

This is also how Klaus Lederer, Berlin’s Senator for Culture, sees things: “I am receiving phone calls from people who don’t know how they are going to pay their rent next month. At the moment, no one knows what consequences this crisis will have, to name only a few examples, for independent cinemas, concert promoters, literary readings, clubs and sociocultural activities or how there are to be expected to be make up for their loss of income. […] In light of the threats to the livelihoods to many freelance artists and culture makers, I see an urgent need for action.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 17, 2020)

While restrictions have already been eased for other fields or there are at least prospects of this, everything remains closed for live art until July 31. Following this, nearly all theaters will be on their annual summer break and the regular summer events, normally full of festivals and open air events, have been cancelled. For many, this means that the events in which they typically earn the majority of their annual income will not be held this year. Even if discussions are currently being held about opening art and culture institutions and specific concepts are being worked out for theaters, concert halls, movie theaters, exhibition spaces and rehearsal spaces (any many other types of spaces), it still looks like most art and culture institutions will not be able to offer programming again until the fall – and then to houses that will be anything but full. As Berlin’s Senate Department for Culture and Europe announced on May 29, 2020: “Public events in theaters, concert halls and operas that are primarily financed by public money may not take place” – presumably until July 31, 2020. After this, venues will have to follow strict hygiene concepts that allow only a fraction of the previous audience capacity with a corresponding loss of income from tickets. These financial problems will unfortunately persist far beyond this summer for many art and culture organizations and especially for freelance artists and culture makers.

In light of this, we want to demonstrate our solidarity with Berlin’s independent artists and culture makers who make the German capital so famous and attractive worldwide and put on this shared festival that everyone goes to by not coming. Once again, this is why we’re turning to you: buy a ticket to make a donation of € 22 (additional prices levels: € 11, € 44 or € 95).

Freelance Berlin-based artists and culture makers can apply to receive relief packages from these donations through July 23, 2020. The applications will be reviewed for completeness, but we are not asking for any artistic content as part of the application. (The criteria are a registered residence in Berlin, a tax number for freelance work, a brief statement about the applicant’s financial situation and that the applicant did not receive relief funds from the state of Berlin’s Soforthilfe II program.) The funds will probably be distributed by means of random drawings from those qualified in order to be able to distribute higher sums instead of many small disbursements. Our goal is to be able to make a real difference with the funds we are able to provide (e.g. € 1,000 per artist). Please help us to collect as many donations as possible!