March 31, 2026 | Press Release by bbk berlin: A Studio Building (Wilsnacker Straße 62) on the Brink
Despite yet another change at the helm of Berlin's cultural administration, the foundations of cultural funding must not be allowed to crumble. Ten studio locations within the workspace programme are currently at risk. One studio building is even facing immediate closure by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, with a deadline of 30 April. bbk berlin is sounding the alarm!
The “Arbeitsraumprogramm” – Proven and Under Threat
The studio funding programme, known as the “Arbeitsraumprogramm”, is a well-established support instrument: by providing workspaces for cultural practitioners at a capped and affordable fixed rate, the state supplies the infrastructure for its most important industry — culture.
In the budget cuts of the past two fiscal rounds, the programme has been stripped of significant funding. For the 2026/27 double budget, the allocated funds were more than halved compared to the original planning. Investment in state-owned properties is no longer possible, and no further rental agreements are being planned. And yet, there was a coalition promise: existing studios and workspaces would be preserved. That promise is currently being broken. A budget line of approximately €20 million per year is available for rental agreements. Nevertheless, one studio building with a comparatively low funding requirement has been waiting for confirmation of support for the coming years — and, according to the Senate Department for Culture's calculations, will not receive it: the funds are insufficient.
The studio building at Wilsnacker Straße 62 has existed for 35 years, making it one of the programme's founding institutions, with a long-standing and cost-effective lease. Eight artists work there across seven studios under the programme's umbrella, including one person with a severe disability. All of them now face the immediate loss of their working foundation.
Under Constant Pressure
The ongoing debates about the future of the entire workspace programme — continuing since autumn — are preventing several hundred artists from practising their profession. The lack of security within the programme makes planning for projects and exhibitions impossible, and the anxiety is casting a shadow over artistic working processes. "The relentless pressure on artists in subsidised spaces renders the entire funding programme absurd," says Frauke Boggasch, Co-Spokesperson of bbk berlin. She adds: "It cannot be acceptable that individual artists are left to pay the price for the lack of planning within the workspace programme." Artists in buildings that have already lost their funding know this all too well — they are now confronted with rent increases of up to 250 percent, which they are equally unable to afford.
Demands of bbk berlin
"We are calling for a responsible and transparent approach to the workspace programme — once and for all," adds Birgit Cauer, Co-Spokesperson of bbk berlin. It remains unclear what the allocated funds are actually being used for, and why necessary savings are consistently passed on to artists and thereby to the funding structure itself. The building at Wilsnacker Straße 62 must be preserved. For the nine further endangered locations, a viable funding concept must be provided without delay. » Link on the Map: Studio Buildings in the Workspace Programme
We urgently call on the coalition to honour its commitment to preserving existing provision!
Frauke Boggasch und Birgit Cauer,
Spokespersons, bbk berlin