(Dis)comfort Zones: Criticism of anti-Semitism in art and culture

In their entertaining lecture performance, literary scholars Prof. Dr. Mona Körte (University of Bielefeld) and Prof. Dr. Ethel Matala de Mazza (HU Berlin) discuss anti-Semitic narratives in texts from world literature. Using love stories between Jewish and non-Jewish people – read by the ensemble of the Münchner Kammerspiele – persistent anti-Semitic stereotypes over the centuries become clear: from E.T.A. Hoffmann to Thomas Mann to Bernhard Schlink.

With: Barbara Mundel (Artistic Director, Münchner Kammerspiele), Esther Slevogt (author, theatre critic), Jan Lazardzig (theatre scholar, FU Berlin) Moderator: Eva Marburg (Institute for New Social Sculpture)

German theatre history has always been shaped by Jewish influences. The deportation, murder or exile of Jewish theatre artists during National Socialism led to a cultural rupture that was exploited after 1945: Jewish (theatre) heritage was forgotten, made invisible or deliberately reinterpreted to serve particular interests. The consequences of these processes of repression continue to have an impact today – thematically, artistically and institutionally. After a tour with artistic director Barbara Mundel to the ‘Library of Fates,’ the Munich Kammerspiele's memorial site, the workshop discussion will use further examples to explore the opportunities and possibilities for a critical examination of the history of one's own institution.

With: Dorothee Richter (art historian, professor of curation)

Curators are constantly confronted with difficult situations: sometimes an event is disrupted or prevented, sometimes artists threaten to withdraw their work because other artists appear unacceptable, or a curator suddenly finds themselves in an environment where (possibly) anti-Semitic narratives or motifs are reproduced. Using a number of case studies, the workshop will discuss how these situations could be addressed and possible solutions will be explored. The aim is to break out of a kind of ‘paralysis of fear’ and to deal with artistic or curatorial positions that could be marked as problematic. In addition to material for historical context, we will explore how common problems can be solved and how the respective situations can be approached strategically

With: Florian Hiermeier (Centre for Democracy Munich), Clara Weyde (Director of Acting, Magdeburg Theatre), Matthias Köhler (Director, Erlangen Theatre), Natalie Baudy (Dramaturge, Erlangen Theatre)

Art and cultural institutions are increasingly becoming the focus of the extreme right. Supposed ‘globalist’ and ‘cultural Marxist’ elites are being targeted as enemies. The aim is to ‘clean up’ the cultural sector, which in future is to serve solely to promote ‘national identity’. In this workshop, we want to examine the strategies underlying the cultural struggle waged by the right wing, the extent to which terms and concepts with anti-Semitic connotations are used, and how cultural institutions can assert themselves as places of reflection, criticism and ambiguity in an increasingly authoritarian social climate. At the beginning of the workshop, the Schauspiel Erlangen theatre will present its upcoming premiere of ‘Brauner Schnee über Franken’ (Brown Snow over Franconia), which deals with the right-wing extremist and anti-Semitic murder of Rabbi Shlomo Lewin and his partner Frida Poeschke in Erlangen in 1980.

Prominent representatives of art institutions discuss how anti-Semitism-critical work can be established in practice, what structures are needed for this, and what role cultural policy must play in this process.
With: Barbara Mundel (Münchner Kammerspiele), Mirjam Wenzel (Jewish Museum Frankfurt), Daniel Kühnel (Hamburg Symphony Orchestra), Anton Biebl (Bavarian State Museums)
Moderator: Eva Marburg (Institute for New Social Sculpture)