The Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion has just announced today that the anti-discrimination clause implemented early in January no longer applies, with immediate effect.
In their press release from today, the Senate stated »Due to legal concerns that the anti-discrimination clause is not legally secure in this form, it will no longer be used in funding decisions with immediate effect.«
We appreciate the decision, which has come after serious concerns and worries had been voiced in recent weeks by many of Berlin’s cultural organisations, cultural workers, and artists, and that we shared and also expressed.
We at CTM Festival confirm our commitment to engaging in dialogue and exchange, and to participating in processes of working towards strategies against discrimination in all its forms and interconnectedness, including but not limited to antisemitism, anti-muslim and anti-black racism, racism of all kinds, gender-based discrimination, and queer- and transphobia. We firmly believe that these strategies must be developed in collaboration with a broad range of experts, associations, affected communities, institutions, and the Berlin cultural administration. Such strategies should bring people together instead of dividing them, protect freedom of expression and artistic freedom, and credibly convey to cultural actors and artists everywhere that their artistic contributions are sought after and welcome in Berlin and Germany.