30.05.2022 | Press echo to the press release of the bbk berlin: "Berliner Kunsthalle"-a label fraud
The bbk berlin summarizes the reactions in the media since its press release of January 28. What interests does the association "Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V.", which runs the "Berliner Kunsthalle", represent? And what role does the state of Berlin play in this appropriation of the name and representation? The debate continues and concepts are being developed:
31.05.2022 | TAZ, Alliance for Art in Tempelhof: Everyone wants the hall, Antonia White: (...) The alliance, which is made up of independent cultural workers, refugee initiatives and sustainability actors, is calling for a "Hall for All". (...) The 10,000 square metres of space in the two hangars could of course serve this purpose with state funding and give many people free space for their creativity. But the fact that instead the hall was given rent-free to a patron of the arts from Bonn, and that the name "Kunsthalle Berlin" suggested that Berlin artists would have free use of the space, turned the independent scene against it. (...) With its "Halle für Alle" (Hall for All), the alliance wants to create a place that serves Berliners and their social and creative needs. Last but not least, the planned conversion of the RAW grounds (Umbau des RAW-Geländes in Friedrichshain) will mean the loss of further open spaces, at least in part. "Art needs space!" says the THF Alliance. That is probably true."
https://taz.de/Buendnis-fuer-Kunst-in-Tempelhof/!5855087/
30.05.2022 | Berliner Zeitung, Cultural scene exerts pressure : After boycott: "Kunsthalle Berlin" becomes "Halle für Alle" (Hall for All), Ingeborg Ruthe: "An end to clunky art: the transformation alliance THF wants to transform Hangars 2&3 of Tempelhof Airport into a creative centre. (...) "40,000 artists live and work in Berlin," says a speaker into the microphone in front of Hangar 2, "but art needs space. And it's not just the independent scene that is calling for this, but also the well-organised Professional Association of Visual Artists (bbk berlin). The freshly formed transformation alliance THF now wants to know: "Stop the philandering of Tempelhof Projekte GmbH!" was heard several times on Monday evening in front of the entrance to the so-called Kunsthalle Berlin. (...) In a dadaistic performance, a huge golden key made of papier-mâché was handed over. bbk berlin spokesperson Zoe Claire Miller costumed herself as Walter Smerling and presented the fake key to the representatives of the transformation alliance THF and thus symbolically to Berlin's artistic community. And in the information folder for this first appearance before the press is a sheet with the names of meanwhile already 16 potential sponsors and supporters of the courageous project "Halle für Alle". They say there is also sympathy in the House of Representatives and the Senate for Culture. A grassroots democracy atmosphere: many voices were heard in the microphone and in countless conversations among the assembled art scenes of Berlin, hoping that the state politicians would recognise the potential and support the project "Kunsthalle für Alle" with all their strength and finally with political will. Also financially. Which would ultimately mean: Berlin would have its lost Kunsthalle back 32 years after reunification."
https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/kunst/kunsthalle-berlin-hangar-2-3-tempelhof-smerlings-kunsthalle-li.230737
30.05.2022 | Monopol Magazin, Association withdraws. What do we learn from the debate about the Kunsthalle Berlin? Saskia Trebing: (...) "The rather discreet departure of the Kunsthalle Berlin can certainly be called a success of the critics. But was the discussion more than a flash in the pan that can be considered extinguished with the closure of the private Kunsthalle? In the art world, too, social media-driven outrage is often quite short-lived, and in the news maelstrom of the past few months the issue has been somewhat lost. If you ask those who initiated the public objection, you definitely hear the assessment that something will remain from the discussion. For example, the artist Zoë Claire Miller, spokesperson for the Berlin bbk (berufsverband bildende künstler*innen berlin), says: "It is an important sign that Berliners, cultural workers, activists and the press were finally able to make themselves heard by the Senate: that Smerling must now go. And what is even more important: it is very good to know that if only the will is there, areas of the former Tempelhof airport can be given away for free and with subsidies for operating costs. Now these spaces should also be handed over to civil society - for sensible uses and for the development of fair and transparent award processes on site and from within." "Hall for All" instead of Kunsthalle Berlin? According to Miller's assessment, it has become less likely that the public and parliament will continue to accept how state-owned companies like Tempelhof Projekt GmbH act "completely non-transparently and against the interests of the population". At the same time, no one is helped by the fact that the airport hangars - the use of which has been disputed for years - are once again empty. That is why a new alliance of cultural workers, urban developers and refugee initiatives, which Zoë Claire Miller also supports, is calling for a transformation of the site into a "Hall for All". To mark the closing of the Bernar Venet exhibition, the members are planning, among other things, a symbolic handover of keys on 30 May. "The goal of the Transformation Alliance THF is to establish a cooperative, transparent process in the sense of a public-common partnership for the entire building complex - instead of the corruption-prone public-private partnership model," reads a statement from the initiative. "The enormous spaces must be made accessible to the urban society." (...)
https://www.monopol-magazin.de/was-lernen-wir-aus-der-debatte-um-die-kunsthalle-berlin
30.05.2022 | New Alliance Paves the Way for Sustainable Development. The controversial "Kunsthalle Berlin" at Tempelhof Airport transforms into the "Hall for All.” marks the beginning of a new era for the former airport THF in Berlin. On Monday, 30.5. at 5 p.m., the Transformationsbündnis THF (Transformation Alliance THF) invites the Berlin community to join us on site for the festivities! We are going to celebrate the finissage of the current exhibition of the "Kunsthalle Berlin", the closing of the so-called Kunsthalle and the rededication of the space it occupied as a benchmark for cultural, community-based, ecologically and socially just development of the entire former airport area. Hangar 2 & 3 will be renamed, there will be a key handover and performances. Press release https://transformationsbuendnis-thf.de/
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21.02.2022 | TAZ, Resistance to Kunsthalle Berlin: Deals without a sense of creativity, Ronald Berg: Resentment is growing in the capital about Kunsthalle Berlin. In fact, the question is what is more important: art promotion or location marketing. (...) But the criticism is no longer aimed solely at names or people: The Kunsthalle is "only a symptom," says the Berlin BBK. On Friday, it therefore invited to a panel discussion about the Kunsthalle. Motto: "What's actually going on here?" And here the horizon of the discussion broadened, with the participation of many actors from self-managed project spaces, artists' initiatives and urbanism experts. The Kunsthalle deal only appears as part of an urban development strategy in which spaces are "signed over" anew, where power of disposal over urban spaces is ceded to private developers and civil society or the own initiative of creatives and artists is hardly given a chance on the part of politics. Berlin's politicians have no vision, said Daniela Brahm. The state-owned limited liability companies, such as Tempelhof Projekt GmbH, which is supposed to develop the former airport at the behest of the state of Berlin, are incapable of engaging in experiments with the very people who are supposed to be the focus of the project. Brahm, herself an artist, represents the model "Ex-Rotaprint," a self-organized creative location in Wedding, (...)
https://taz.de/Widerstand-gegen-Kunsthalle-Berlin/!5830314/
21.02.2022 | Die kulturWelt Bayern 2, Radio report, Judith Heitkamp in conversation with Clemens von Wedemeyer (from 8:30 - 16:30 min): One of the authors of the Open Letter: Who owns the public? from 16.02.2022
https://www.br.de/radio/bayern2/sendungen/kulturwelt/die-kulturwelt-vom-21-februar-2022_x-100.html
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Media reactions to the bbk berlin event at Flutgraben with Daniela Brahm (artist, space producer), Annette Maechtel (curator, art and cultural scientist), Zoë Claire Miller (artist, speaker bbk berlin), Harry Sachs (artist, ZK/U - Center for Art and Urbanism) moderated by Christophe Knoch (Micamoca Berlin, board of directors Stiftung Zukunft Berlin):
19.02.2022 | Tagesspiegel, Two hangars, one "Art Hall" - What will become of Tempelhof Airport? Birgit Rieger: Lack of vision and hardly any goals: Artists discuss the future at the former airport. Is expertise still needed? (...) "Kunsthalle?" What actually happened there, asked the Berufsverband Bildender Künstler:innen Berlin (bbk berlin) in a discussion held on Friday at the Flutgraben. Fortunately, you don't hear the sneering tones from the net here. Basically, it's already barely about Walter Smerling and the stupid choice of name "Kunsthalle", which has dragged along a Berlin debate that has lasted for decades. (...) Paywall
https://m.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/zwei-hangars-eine-kunsthalle-was-wird-aus-dem-flughafen-tempelhof/28085838.html
19.02.2022 | inforadio und rbb24, Artists criticize behavior around "Kunsthalle Berlin", Martin Adam: In two hangars in the former Tempelhof Airport, an exhibition of the sculptor Bernar Venet is currently on display. The Association of Visual Artists Berlin has nothing against this. But the way of realization disturbs them massively. The professional association of visual artists Berlin (bbk berlin) criticizes the exhibition spaces "Kunsthalle Berlin" and had invited in this regard last Friday to a panel discussion. The association complains that it was completely surprised to learn that the private entrepreneur Walter Smerling from Bonn will receive two hangars at the former Tempelhof Airport rent-free for two years in order to hold art exhibitions there. In addition, the Senate is to finance half of the operating costs - up to 1.2 million euros. And all this without a public tender and in a city where money and space for art are chronically scarce. For the artists, this is completely incomprehensible. (...) https://www.rbb24.de/kultur/beitrag/2022/02/kunsthalle-berlin-flughafen-tempelhof-kuenstler-hangar-berlin.html
18.02.2022 | DeutschlandfunkKultur, How to proceed with the "Kunsthalle Berlin"? Artists' association discusses the project, Carsten Probst: 7:25 min https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/wie-weiter-mit-der-kunsthalle-berlin-kuenstlerverband-diskutiert-das-projekt-dlf-kultur-7e07da24-100.html
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18.02.2022 | Panel discussion on 18.02.2022 18-20 clock in the Flutgraben: The so-called "Kunsthalle Berlin": What is actually going on here? The first event in the series on coming to terms with the so-called "Kunsthalle Berlin" aims to trace: What happened? How could this happen? What is the context and infrastructure of the so-called "Kunsthalle Berlin" at Tempelhof Airport? What are state-owned project GmbHs and in which construct are decisions made? (...)
podiumsdiskussion-am-18022022-die-sogenannte-kunsthalle-berlin-was-ist-hier
18.02.2022 | Monopol Magazin, Dispute over public support for private exhibitions: In the dispute over the private Kunsthalle Berlin, the initiator Walter Smerling has now offered Tempelhof Projekt GmbH to assume the operating costs in full. This is what the chairman of the association Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. Bonn told the "Tagesspiegel". After the Senate had initially only talked about the association being able to use the premises in the former Tempelhof Airport rent-free for an initial two years, Tempelhof Projekt GmbH has since confirmed that an operating subsidy will also be paid. The city has not yet provided any figures, (...)
https://www.monopol-magazin.de/kunsthallen-initiator-smerling-will-betriebskosten-voll-uebernehmen
18.02.2022 | Tagesspiegel Plus, Dispute about the "Kunsthalle Berlin": "I'm not taking anything away from anyone", Nicola Kuhn and Birgit Rieger: Putin, investors and artists' protests: Walter Smerling on the dispute about the "Kunsthalle" he opened at Tempelhof Airport. In January, an "Kunsthalle Berlin" opened in Hangars 2 + 3 at Tempelhof Airport. Walter Smerling, born in 1958, is its organizer and curator. Smerling is chairman of the Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. Bonn and founding director of the private museum Küppersmühle in Duisburg. In 2021, he organized the controversial European exhibition "Diversity United" in Hangars 2 + 3, which is currently on tour in Moscow. Now the Bonn-based association is allowed to use the hangars rent-free for up to two years. Smerling dedicated the first exhibition to the French sculptor Bernard Venet. Not only the title "Kunsthalle," which suggests a public house and has a long history, especially in Berlin, but also the less than transparent awarding of the hangars to the Bonn association have been sharply criticized. (...) Paywall
https://plus.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/streit-um-die-kunsthalle-berlin-ich-nehme-niemandem-etwas-weg-397312.html
17.02.2022 | Freitag, "Anger motivates me," portrait, Laura Ewert: In the conflict over municipal funding for the private "Kunsthalle Berlin," one is particularly vocal: Artist Zoë Claire Miller. Not for the first time, she bites the hands that could feed her. Why, actually?
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/portraet-wut-motiviert-mich
17.02.2022 | Press release of the AG Tempelhof of the Coalition of the Free Scene: No more direct awards! We demand transparency! The Coalition of the Free Scene (KdFS) and its AG Tempelhof demand equal opportunities in the cultural use of state-owned properties: transparency and equal opportunities for all!
https://www.koalition-der-freien-szene-berlin.de/kunsthalle-berlin-wir-fordern-transparenz/
17.02.2022 | Monopol Magazin, "Who owns the public?" Open letter from artists against private Kunsthalle Berlin: The public grants for the private Kunsthalle Berlin are seen by many as a sellout of urban space. Now a protest letter written by Hito Steyerl, Jörg Heiser and Clemens von Wedemeyer addresses the Senate once again "We are writing to you because we are alarmed by the fact that the city of Berlin or its officials have allowed themselves to be instrumentalized without necessity by private associations, companies and individuals around the 'cultural manager' Walter Smerling with the spatial and financial support of a so-called 'Kunsthalle Berlin'," reads the open letter, which was distributed among others via the platform E-Flux. (...)
https://www.monopol-magazin.de/offener-brief-von-kuenstlerinnen-und-kuenstlern-gegen-private-kunsthalle-berlin
16.02.2022 | Open Letter: Who owns the public?, Jörg Heiser, Hito Steyerl, Clemens von Wedemeyer: To the Senator for Culture and Europe Klaus Lederer, the Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey, the former Governing Mayor Michael Müller, the members of the Supervisory Board of Tempelhof Projekt GmbH, the Berlin Court of Auditors, the Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, and Federal President Frank Walter Steinmeier as patron of the "Diversity United" exhibition:
https://www.e-flux.com/notes/450386/offener-brief-wem-gehrt-die-ffentlichkeit
16.02.2022 | Morgenpost, Tempelhof Airport. The dispute over the Kunsthalle, Felix Müller and Joachim Fahrun: the creative scene rebels against the awarding of the hangars at Tempelhof Airport to a private foundation, (...) Paywall
https://www.morgenpost.de/kultur/article234582449/Der-Streit-um-die-Kunsthalle-in-Berlin.html
15.02.2022 | FAZ, Berlin's Senator for Culture Lederer: He is not a "culture-preventing authority"!, Niklas Maak: What idea of art does Berlin's Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer actually have? The capital delegates the decision about what is supported and shown with public funds to private parties. One strategy for dealing with scandals, which has always gotten people far in Berlin, can be summarized as follows: First, one assumes that the scandal will not be noticed. If it is noticed, one claims that one has nothing to do with it. If it is discovered that one does have something to do with it, one claims that such a thing is perfectly normal. In the case of the revelations about the private art gallery in Berlin's disused Tempelhof Airport, this strategy no longer seems to be working. (...) Paywall
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/kunsthalle-berlin-die-rolle-von-klaus-lederer-17804813.html
15.02.2022 | Süddeutsche Zeitung, Streit um die "Kunsthalle Berlin":Großartig, Genossen, Peter Richter: Der Ärger um Walter Smerlings "Kunsthalle Berlin" offenbart die Großmannssucht unter Sozialdemokraten. Jetzt ist auch der Kultursenator der Linken eingeschnappt. Querelen um die von einem Bonner Verein ins Leben gerufene "Kunsthalle Berlin" weiten sich aus und erreichen jetzt die Politik. (...) Paywall
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/kunsthalle-berlin-walter-smerling-klaus-lederer-1.5528683?reduced=true
12.02.2022 | Berliner Zeitung, How the boycott of the "Kunsthalle Berlin" is dividing the art world, Hanno Hauenstein: In the dispute over the private Kunsthalle Berlin, ten artists have now withdrawn their works, and more and more are calling for a boycott. What happened? You really can't accuse the Berlin art scene of being apolitical these days. Candice Breitz, who has been known for exposing the German zeitgeist at least since the social media campaign Soup du Jour, had called for a boycott of the "Kunsthalle Berlin" in the hangars of the former Tempelhof Airport almost two weeks ago, coinciding with its opening. In the meantime, the criticism of the Kunsthalle and the private foundation founder and curator Walter Smerling behind it has grown into a real boycott movement, whose activism can be followed online on Instagram under the hashtag #boycottkunsthalleberlin. It is also supported, among others, by Zoë Claire Miller of the Association of Professional Visual Artists Berlin, by the director of the Berlinische Galerie Thomas Köhler, and by the future artistic director of the HKW Bonaventure Ndikung. (...)
https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/wochenende/wie-der-boykott-der-kunsthalle-berlin-die-kunstwelt-spaltet-li.211324
10.02.2022 | Monopol Magazin, Private project at Tempelhof Airport. Boycott of Kunsthalle Berlin widens: Tempelhof Projekt GmbH has confirmed that public funds are flowing for the private Kunsthalle Berlin. Meanwhile, more and more artists are withdrawing their works from the exhibition "Diversity United," which is also organized by the operating association Stiftung Kunst und Kultur Bonn.
https://www.monopol-magazin.de/boykott-der-kunsthalle-berlin-geht-weiter-tempelhof-projekt-gmbh-bestaetigt-zuschuss-des-landes
10.02.2022 | detektorfm.com, Dispute about Kunsthalle Berlin, interview with Elke Buhr, moderator: Yvi Strüwing: The flow of money from the Berlin Senate to the Kunsthalle Berlin is "collateral damage of Corona politics," says Elke Buhr, editor-in-chief of Monopol. She classifies this dispute. It's about power and morality.
https://soundcloud.com/detektorfm-wort/streit-um-kunsthalle-berlin
09.02.2022 | Die Zeit, Kunsthalle Berlin: Kunst als Kulisse der Macht. Warum protestieren Künstler gegen Berlins neue Kunsthalle?, Tobias Timm:
Spektakuläre Ausstellungsflächen, 8.000 Quadratmeter in zwei historischen Hangars des Flughafens Tempelhof! Was sich wie ein großartiges Angebot liest, weckt derzeit in Berlin wütenden Protest unter Künstlerinnen und Künstlern. Auf Instagram rufen sie auf zum Boykott gegen die neue "Kunsthalle Berlin", die vor zwei Wochen im Flughafen eröffnet wurde. Der Protest richtet sich vor allem gegen den Kurator Walter Smerling – und gegen die politisch Verantwortlichen, die ihm die beiden Hangars für zwei Jahre mietfrei überlassen haben. Smerling, Jahrgang 1958, ist ein Großmanager im deutschen Kunstbetrieb, ein in Bonn ansässiger Netzwerker, der das private Museum Küppersmühle in Duisburg ebenso leitet wie die "Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur". Eine Stiftung, die eigentlich ein eingetragener Verein ist. Versteht Smerling, was da los ist, überrascht ihn die Wut? Am Telefon merkt man ihm die Verwunderung an. (...)
https://www.zeit.de/2022/07/kunsthalle-berlin-protest-walter-smerling
09.02.2022 | TAZ, Wie kommt die Kulturszene aus der Coronakrise? Klaus Lederer (Linke) über fehlende Arbeitskräfte, soziale Sicherung, Schwurbler und den Kultursommer, Susanne Messmer: [Auszug aus dem Interview mit Klaus Lederer] (...) SM: Ein weiteres aktuelles Thema ist der Streit um die Kunsthalle Tempelhof, finanziert von einem prominenten Immobilienentwickler und dem Senat. Der Berliner Verband Bildender Künste äußert grundsätzliche Kritik daran. Braucht Berlin diese Art von Kunsthalle? KL: Aufgabe der Tempelhof-Projekt-GmbH ist es, die sonst leerstehenden maroden Hangars zu vermieten, vorrangig für kulturelle Veranstaltungen. Mietfreiheit ist bei solchen Vermietungen die Regel. Aufgrund des maroden Zustandes der Hangars, fehlender Einbauten, mangelnder Sicherheitsvorkehrungen und schlechten sanitären Bedingungen muss dies alles vom jeweiligen Veranstalter organisiert und finanziert werden – eine anteilige Übernahme der Betriebskosten ist daher nicht unüblich. Über das Guerilla-Marketing und den Namen „Kunsthalle Berlin“ ist dabei nie gesprochen worden, ich finde es daneben, vermittelt der Name doch eine Nähe zur Berliner Kunstszene, die schlicht nicht gegeben ist. Und natürlich betrachte ich mit Skepsis diese Vermischung von wirtschaftlichen Kalkülen, Politik und Kunst, die zulasten Letzterer geht. Andererseits wird in den Hangars 2+3 durchaus großartige Kunst gezeigt, die hier Berliner*innen zugänglich gemacht wird. (...)
07.02.2022 | Tagesspiegel, Fehlgeleitete Kunstförderung Berlin zahlt für private „Kunsthalle“, Birgit Rieger: (...) The name "Kunsthalle" is misleading. What Berlin's artists and the independent scene had actually hoped for was that the space in Tempelhof would be developed by the public sector for artistic use by all Berlin artists. The name "Kunsthalle Berlin" suggests that it is a public institution. Yet, as many see it, Smerling is pursuing a self-serving project in Tempelhof that will primarily provide opportunities for his own interests and those of his network of politicians, real estate developers, and art dealers. The Berlin Senate's lack of support and will to shape the project is now also sparking criticism on social media. People with plenty of resources would perpetuate inequality here under the benevolent hand of politics, according to an Instagram post by Berlin exhibition maker and project space operator Heiko Pfreundt. Public money goes to this private art gallery, while Berlin artists urgently need financial support from the city, especially in the wake of the pandemic, writes the artist Pierre Granoux. "Backroom deals" must be excluded in the future, demands the bbk berlin angrily.
https://m.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/fehlgeleitete-kunstfoerderung-berlin-zahlt-fuer-private-kunsthalle/28046506.html
07. Februar 2022 | Monopol Magazin, Streit um Ausstellungsort, Private Kunsthalle Berlin erhält massiv Steuergeld: Anders als bisher bekannt wird die umstrittene Kunsthalle Berlin der privaten Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. Bonn in großem Umfang mit Geldern des Berliner Senats unterstützt. Das berichtete die "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". Die Stiftung des Kulturmanagers Walter Smerling hat für zunächst zwei Jahre zwei Hangars des Flughafen Tempelhofs gemietet. Als erstes wurde eine Ausstellung des französischen Bildhauers Bernar Venet eröffnet. Aus der Berliner Kunstszene wurde die Kunsthalle Berlin stark angegriffen. Zahlreiche Künstlerinnen und Kulturschaffende teilten auf Social Media einen Boykottaufruf gegen die Institution, die dort als "zynisches, neoliberales Vehikel" bezeichnet wird. Verteidiger der Kunsthalle hatten zunächst argumentiert, dass Smerlings Verein die leer stehenden Räume zwar mietfrei, aber immerhin ohne zusätzliche finanzielle Mittel der öffentlichen Hand bespiele, die Alternative sei Leerstand. Doch wie die "F.A.Z." am Samstag schreibt, bestätigte nun die Senatsverwaltung, dass die Betriebskosten nicht vollständig vom Verein Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur übernommen würden, sondern dass das Land einen fünfzigprozentigen Kostenanteil daran trage. Da man von Betriebskosten in Höhe von hunderttausend Euro im Monat ausgehen kann, dürfte sich die Fördersumme des Senats für zwei Jahre also auf rund 1,2 Millionen Euro summieren – ein Betrag, der beispielsweise den jährlichen Ankaufsetat der Berliner Nationalgalerie deutlich übersteigt. Die Mittel stammen aus dem Haushalt der Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung, Bauen und Wohnen. (...)
https://www.monopol-magazin.de/private-kunsthalle-berlin-erhaelt-steuergeld
06. Februar 2022 | Süddeutsche Zeitung, Subsidies for "Kunsthalle Berlin" Hard to justify, Jörg Häntzschel: The controversial "Kunsthalle Berlin" was often defended by saying that at least it didn't cost the public anything. Now there are new findings. At the end of 2021, the news that parts of the vacant airport were to be used for art had caused rejoicing in Berlin - precisely what Berlin artists had been demanding for a long time. The anger of many was all the greater when it turned out that it was not studios and exhibition spaces that were planned for artists beset by pandemic and rent prices, but a private "Kunsthalle Berlin," organized by the association "Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. Bonn," whose founder is Walter Smerling, known in art circles as an extremely effective string-puller. (...)
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/kunsthalle-berlin-tempelhof-walter-smerling-berlin-gegenwartskunst-1.5523139
05.02.2022 | Debate about Kunsthalle in Tempelhof: The "Dercon-Moment", Brigitte Werneburg: The Berlin artists' call for a boycott of the private art gallery at Tempelhof Airport is correct. (...) Now it's the long-neglected Tempelhof Airport. It is operated by one of those notorious Projekt GmbHs that the state government loves so much because their private-law form removes them from the control of parliament and the composition of the controlling bodies, such as the supervisory board, can be easily controlled. So it is politics, not project management, that is responsible for Walter Smerling continuing to do business here. The enterprising man from the Rhine is the founder of the private Bonner Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e. V. (Bonn Foundation for Art and Culture) and director of the Küppersmühle Museum in Duisburg, which is also private. (...)
https://taz.de/Debatte-um-Kunsthalle-in-Tempelhof/!5833147/
05.02.2022 | FAZ, Art and Money: Berlin pays on top too, Niklas Maak: How can it be that the Berlin Senate leaves the famous halls to a private association for free use? And gives hundreds of thousands of euros in addition? (...) The ruckus the Kunsthalle causes outside the exhibition, however, is even greater: the Association of Berlin Artists (bbk berlin) protests against the Kunsthalle, and the artist Candice Breitz launches a widely shared call for a boycott, urging artists not to show their works at this venue. What happened? When it was announced at the end of last year that Tempelhof Airport, which had been empty for years, was to be used as an art gallery, the reactions were euphoric. For years, artists from the independent scene had come together to form the Tempelhof Working Group and developed clever and easily implementable plans for the artistic use of the airport: So should the city have sat down with these artists and finally realized that it needed to invest in its largest vacant building, a world-class architectural monument? (...)
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/berliner-exzess-beim-streit-um-die-kunsthalle-17780364.html (Paywall)
01.02.2022 | 3 sat "Kulturzeit" mit Zoë Claire Miller im Interview: The topics the new Kunsthalle Berlin and the Smerling system, 3sat.de/kultur/kulturzeit/sendung-vom-1-februar-2022
https://vimeo.com/685516146
01.02.2022 | Berlin Artists Protest New Private Art Space at Tempelhof Airport: ‘A Cynical, Neoliberal Vehicle’, by Shanti Escalante-De Mattei: A new private art space at Berlin’s Tempelhof airport is currently the subject of protests, with artists in the city accusing the space of being out of touch with what their community wants. The online outcry after artists learned that a private institution, the Foundation for Art and Culture, chaired by the curator Walter Smerling, had been granted access to stage work in the building for the next two years. (...) The writers and circulators of the group’s post took issue with Smerling, who they viewed as old-guard figure who would “hollow out” the Berlin art scene with his “very rich, very white” friends. Boycott Kunsthalle Berlin said it was especially suspicious of him following a 2021 show he organized, “Diversity United” which Vladimir Putin endorsed. A press release by the Berlin artists’ association BBK Berlin claimed that, though the show was given €1 million in public subsidies, artists who participated in the show were denied their fee.
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/kunsthalle-berlin-tempelhof-protests-1234617442/
29.01.2022 | Fazit DeutschlandRadioKultur, Zoë Claire Miller im interview: Etikettenschwindel? Massive Kritik an neuer Kunsthalle Berlin (7:22 min)
https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/etikettenschwindel-massive-kritik-an-neuer-kunsthalle-berlin-dlf-kultur-9df4ca17-100.html
oder hier direkt zum Nachhören:
31.01.2022 | Artnet.com: Candice Breitz and Other Berlin-Based Artists Are Calling for a Boycott of a New Art Space at the Historic Tempelhof Airport - Boycotters have taken issue with its financial backer, Walter Smerling., Taylor Dafoe: Artists in Berlin are calling for a boycott of a new temporary art space at a historic airport hangar, claiming the venture reflects the interests of its private backers more than the city’s art scene. (...) Zoë Claire Miller and Heidi Sill, representatives of the bbk berlin association of visual artists, also took issue with Smerling’s adoption of the word “Kunsthalle” for the space. “With the self-appointment as Kunsthalle Berlin, the [Foundation for Art and Culture] from Bonn—which is not a foundation, but an association that pursues its own interests—suggests that the use of the historic Tempelhof airport hangar by this association is publicly legitimized,” the bbk berlin spokespersons wrote in a press release. “But this is by no means the case.” “Where is the communication with civil society?” they asked. (...)
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/berlin-artist-boycott-tempelhof-airport-2066357
31.01.2022 |
Controversy about the "Berliner Kunsthalle" at Tempelhof Airport, An interview with our art expert Silke Hennig: For two years, the state of Berlin has given Hangars 2 and 3 at the former Tempelhof Airport to the cultural manager Walter Smerling to operate an art gallery there. At the opening of the first exhibition with works by French artist Bernar Venet, protests have now been raised against this: Berlin artists are calling on social media platforms for a boycott of the "Kunsthalle Berlin" and speak of fraudulent labeling.
https://www.rbb-online.de/rbbkultur/radio/programm/schema/sendungen/der_tag/archiv/20220131_1600/kultur_aktuell_1810.html
30.01.2022 | Süddeutsche Zeitung: Radau in und um neue "Kunsthalle Berlin", Rumms, Peter Richter: (...) Das gezielte Amalgamieren von Großkünstlern, Großsponsoren, Großsammlern und Kunstgroßhändlern wirkt ganz offensichtlich weniger großartig auf Leute, die selbst künstlerisch aktiv sind, aber in zwei Jahren Pandemie immer kleinere Kreise ziehen mussten. So kursierte unter Berliner Kunstbetriebsangehörigen in den letzten Tagen ein Internet-Aufruf zum Boykott der "Kunsthalle Berlin": "Statt als Initiative betrachtet werden zu können, die im Interesse der Kunst-Community Berlins im weiteren Sinne liegt", müsse diese neue "Kunsthalle" als "zynisches, neoliberales Vehikel" bezeichnet werden, "das wesentlich dazu dient, Status und Privatvermögen derer zu steigern, die damit zu tun haben." Bei solchen Anlässen zeigt sich natürlich auch die zunehmend unversöhnlichere Spaltung der Kunstwelt in ein marktbasiertes und ein eher an kulturalistischen Fragen und öffentlichen Töpfen orientiertes Lager. Dort kursierte daher zusätzlich die Frage, welchem "alten, weißen Mann" Smerling den Teppich hier nun als Erstem ausrollen werde: Lüpertz? Baselitz? Den Liköraquarellen von Udo Lindenberg? (...)
(Anm.Red. bbk berlin: Artikel beschreibt auch die Genese der "Kunsthalle" in Berlin)
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/kunsthalle-berlin-bernar-venet-1.5518227
28.01.2022 | Monopol Magazin: Widerstand gegen Kunsthalle Berlin - Bruchlandung?, Elke Buhr: (...) The berufsverband bildender künstler*innen berlin (bbk berlin) also protested against the initiative in a press release. The new Kunsthalle is organized by the private Foundation for Art and Culture from Bonn, which also operates the private Museum Küppersmühle in Duisburg, among other things.
https://www.monopol-magazin.de/kunsthalle-berlin-kritik-stiftung-kunst-kultur-tempelhof-bruchlandung
29.01.2022 | Streit um neue Berliner Kunsthalle
https://www1.wdr.de/kultur/kulturnachrichten/berliner-kunsthalle-tempelhof-100.html
28.01.2022, dpa: Ausstellung Bernar Venet in Berlin - Streit um Kunsthalle: "(...) Veranstalter Walter Smerling vom privaten Verein "Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur" in Bonn sprach am Freitag in Berlin von zunächst zwei Jahren, in der das privat finanzierte Projekt laufen soll. Auf Social-Media-Plattformen wurde zum Boykott der Kunsthalle aufgerufen, die nicht das sei, was Künstlerinnen und Künstler der Stadt bräuchten und wollten. Ein Verband sprach mit Blick auf die bisherigen Bemühungen der Kulturszene um eine Kunsthalle von "Etikettenschwindel" der Veranstalter. Damit werde suggeriert, die Nutzung sei öffentlich legitimiert. "Das ist jedoch keineswegs der Fall", hieß es in einer Mitteilung. Die Hangars, rund fünf Prozent der gesamten Nutzfläche des Flughafenbaus, sind von der vom Senat getragenen Gesellschaft Tempelhof Projekt vergeben worden."
https://www.morgenpost.de/berlin/article234431543/Ausstellung-Bernar-Venet-in-Berlin-Streit-um-Kunsthalle.html
25.01.2022 | Berliner Zeitung, „Kunsthalle Berlin“: Auferstehung einer Totgesagten?, Ingeborg Ruthe: Im einstigen Flughafen Tempelhof firmiert die „Kunsthalle Berlin“. Betreiber ist eine private Bonner Stiftung. (Anm. Red. bbk berlin: Es ist ein privater Bonner Verein, der die Hangars mietfrei für zwei Jahre nutzen kann.) (...) Der Name „Kunsthalle Berlin“ prangt da als Versprechen. Vielleicht geht der Coup ja auch ’ne Nummer kleiner. Wie wärs mit Kunsthalle Tempelhof?"
https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/kunst/kunsthalle-berlin-auferstehung-einer-totgesagten-li.207803
Thanks to: Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)