Arts of the Working Class joins art workers in Berlin to collectively stand for another kind of distribution of wealth. A boycott of the Kunsthalle Berlin coincides with the inauguration of the Kunsthalle at Flughafen Tempelhof today, 28 January 2022, in resistance to this kind of privatizationalist culture.
Rather than being a considered initiative that is in the interests of the arts and cultural community of Berlin at large (as you might expect from an institution wielding the name ‘Kunsthalle Berlin’), the new Kunsthalle can best be described as a cynical, neoliberal vehicle that will primarily serve to increase the stature and private wealth of all those associated with it. The Kunsthalle is exploiting public infrastructures that could have been employed in sustaining the already existing prolific art scene in Berlin. While the cultural manager Walter Smerling has the warm support of Vladimir Putin, Armin Laschet, Anselm Kiefer, Markus Lüpertz, Johann König and Lars Windhorst—(and, most disappointingly, of prominent politicians)—he does not have the support of Berlin’s artists and workers at large.
In joining this boycott, we wish for everyone to understand a clear message:
This 'Kunsthalle' is not what Berlin artists need. Berlin needs better wages for its art workers. Its art workers need space to exist. Berlin needs to promote the curatorial and artistic efforts of intersectional groups, not the outlets for dealers to embellish the portfolios of their clients. Berlin needs to diversify by addressing and giving the spotlight to those who remain in disadvantaged positions, it needs a deeper effort in understanding and collectivizing the values of the arts.
We want to stop standing by and watching Berlin's cultural landscape be hollowed out by despotic behaviors such as those which Smerling has proven to adopt ruthlessly. We want to come together and voice collective opposition to cynical operations of this kind.
WHAT SHALL WE BE BOYCOTTING BEFORE RESETTING?
- Culture as backdrop for despots.
- Utilization of public infrastructures or fundings for culture solely in private or corporate interest.
- Opaque and biased selection and distribution of public resources among cultural practitioners.
- Bureaucratic constraints to accessing the vacant spaces that exist in Berlin.
- Personal interest-driven decision-making over collective needs.
WHAT DOES THE BOYCOTT INVOLVE?
Creating awareness of the gravity of the situation. The purpose of a boycott is to seek to alter a situation that one considers unacceptable. In this particular case, joining the boycott would mean that you elect to avoid visiting the Kunsthalle Berlin, exhibiting at the Kunsthalle Berlin, or patronizing/supporting a highly dubious operation that can only serve to further erode the culture of the city of Berlin in any other way.
WHOSE SUPPORT ARE WE SEEKING?
We hope to receive wide understanding from Berlin’s artists and cultural workers. We’re also hoping for generous support from Berlin's (and Germany’s) cultural institutions. Many of our cultural institutions are struggling to finance their ongoing exhibiting and collecting practices. All the while, our politicians are pouring money into private projects dreamt up by the likes of Smerling (who can’t even be bothered to pay artists a modest artist fee when their work is exhibited). We’d also like to see a multitude of curators, writers and institutional leaders expressing their support for the artists who have chosen to join this boycott. We welcome the support, also, of anybody who cares about the future of art and culture in Berlin.
HOW CAN YOU EXPRESS YOUR SUPPORT FOR THIS BOYCOTT?
If you think a boycott of this institution is appropriate and would like to express your support, please do so by reposting this text on your social media (reposting is more effective than sharing) or, of course, by sharing it in other ways (via e-mail, by word of mouth). Help this conversation to go viral. Share information about this institution with those in your community: artists, curators, writers, people who care about this city and its art community. We wish to build a broad alliance. This boycott is designed to start a broad conversation. Feel free to add information and shape the content as you wish. There is plenty of nuance and depth to be added as the conversation unfolds in the public sphere. Share, share and share.
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If you have not been following the conversation around the Kunsthalle Berlin, please refer to the article below by Niklas Maak. Maak’s article articulates multiple reasons why one might choose to keep a healthy distance from the Kunsthalle Berlin. For those who do not read German, the article by Quynh Tran is helpful in providing some of the backstory:
- Niklas Maak
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/kunst-und-architektur/stiftung-fuer-kunst-und-kultur-wer-ist-walter-smerling-17743829.html
Editors at the FAZ must have understood the inflammatory potential of Niklas Maak’s article. It is parked behind a paywall. Fortunately, everybody knows somebody who has access to the FAZ.
- Quynh Tran
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/diversity-united-berlin-criticism-2014814
Many live precariously in the art community. It can be intimidating to alienate figures like Smerling, Kiefer and Lüpertz. But are we ready to stand by and watch (or actively participate) as our creative landscape is privatized by the likes of Smerling, under the generous patronage of shady figures like Putin, Windhorst and Schröder, with the help of taxpayers’ money?
