The last chairperson

Some tasks in our everyday working lives as artists sometimes seem like a necessary evil, and you think: actually, we could do without them. But when these things are no longer there, often only after some time has passed, you realise how important they were. I was a member of the Berlin Art Advisory Committee for a long time, and most recently its chair. After all these years of commitment, it seemed plausible at first that the committee would cease its work. At the suggestion of the Senate Administration, it was to take a break until the next Art Advisory Committee was reconvened with the revision and adoption of the new A-Bau. Our work was really done at that point, and I think all the members at the time trusted that the new appointment would take place after a certain period of time, as promised by the Senate.

A lot has happened since then, but there has been no new appointment. The wave of austerity measures has had an existential impact on Berlin's arts scene. The art in public space, which we at the BAK have promoted with vigour and a new concept in recent years, has been cut by 85% and is now in tatters. And although we at the Office for Art in Public Space have repeatedly knocked on the door, the committee has not yet been reconvened. Yet it is urgently needed now: as a place to discuss the significance and value of art in public space for Berlin's civic society. As a place where joint recommendations are developed. Where the question of how to proceed and what perspectives can be developed would be discussed. The argument that the new Building Directive (A-Bau) has not yet been adopted is untenable, because the old version naturally continues to apply and regulates everything necessary. It is precisely because the Chamber of Architects, the Academy of Arts, the German Artists' Association, bbk berlin, experts, etc. consult with representatives of the city that this committee is so important. There are now questions to which the committee could formulate answers. To do this, we need the BAK now so that the dialogue is not broken off.

As the last chair, I do not believe that this was planned to happen the way it has. I had confidence, and this bedrock of trust, built up through cooperation, is what gives a committee its substance. Now it is melting away. It is melting away in our hands and slipping through our fingers. Trust is built slowly but broken quickly. The demand of the Office for Art in Public Space is unambiguous: the BAK must be reconvened immediately. Only in this way can future art in public space projects and competitions be prepared and recommended. The concept of art in public space must be further developed. The upcoming art in architecture competitions must be discussed. The art in architecture guidelines must be evaluated and, if necessary, adapted. And the new A-Bau? A new BAK should also discuss it soon...