“We in Berlin view this step in North Rhine-Westphalia with great interest and very positively. The introduction of minimum fees for freelance artists is a long-overdue and powerful signal within cultural funding,” says Birgit Cauer, co-spokesperson of the bbk berlin.

The artist AndyMo reports on her experiences and wishes to warn others against further “purchase offers from abroad”: “I am glad that the bbk berlin is sharing my experience. This way I can spare others the shock.”

bbk berlin strongly condemns the recent interventions by Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer in independent cultural funding processes. Particularly affected is the Capital Cultural Fund (HKF), a federal program providing €15 million annually to support art and culture in Berlin.

Women* in the art and culture sector earn on average around a quarter less than men. In Berlin the situation is even more drastic: in Fine Arts the gender pay gap is 28.44 % (KSK figures as of 1 January 2025, status 6 March 2025). And no, this is not an April Fool’s joke: according to ver.di’s calculations, freelance artists effectively work without pay until 1 April!

In recent months, we have been contacted by several artists who have received suspicious inquiries from purported art collectors. These inquiries express a keen interest in the artworks—without going into detail about them—and claim to want to purchase the artworks as NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

Am Vormittag des 18.03. finden im alten Frauengefängnis Atelierbesichtigungen durch das Atelierbüro im kulturwerk des bbk berlin statt.

The Office for Art in Public Spaces, KiöR (kulturwerk of the bbk berlin) participated in the hearing on the significance of art in architecture and art in urban spaces held at the House of Representatives on Monday, March 16, presenting a statement. Katinka Theis and Martin Schönfeld presented the office’s work and emphasized its relevance for artists and urban society.