Pressekonferenz der Berlin Art Week – Avatara verabschiedet sich als Hauptsponsorin
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Avatara declared at the press conference of the Berlin Art Week that the artists of the city can no longer afford to subsidize Berlin’s art market, institutions and tourism.
Engl. translation:
Hello, my name is Avatara Plenara Zeitstipendia. Most of you here already know me – I am a we and we are the embodiment of the (at the very least) 10.000 visual artists in Berlin.
We are the main sponsor of the Berlin Art Week, which we are incredibly happy about. It is our time in artistic production that is the basis of the coming events. As the main sponsor, we are very pleased with the success of our “umbrella brand” of the Berlin art scene and keen to see our partner institutions’ outstanding exhibitions and events. It sounds fantastic what has been presented here today.
However, we 10.000 visual artists need to make an announcement concerning the future:
Unfortunately we need to inform you that this will be the last time that we can commit as main sponsor for this excellent event, this Berlin Art Week. We artists cannot afford to subsidize the art market, the institutions and the tourism industry of this city anymore. So once again: WE ARTISTS CANNOT AFFORD TO SUBSIDIZE THE ART MARKET, THE INSTITUTIONS, AND THE TOURISM INDUSTRY OF THIS CITY ANYMORE.
So, this is the last Berlin Art Week, since we have no more time for our artistic work, and, in this context it is important to mention especially: no more time for unpaid work. Particularly in the face of this city’s increasingly precarious living and working conditions and the virtually nonexistent funding for us artists. The Berlin Senate’s recent budget draft for 2016/17 hardly improves this situation, and meanwhile, the comprehensive grant program of Time Grants and the other structural funding programs for maintaining and supporting independent artistic work in the city – which we have been demanding for years together with the independent scene coalition and Haben & Brauchen – are not in sight. Even the City Tax funds, which we have made a clear proposition for (and this was really a generous offer of our work) are supposed to exclusively fund art that is relevant for tourism, according to Mister Renner – unless the parliament intervenes. We are very curious to see how things continue, but have to state that this is the last time that we are involved in the Berlin Art Week.
So, as the main sponsor of the Berlin Art Week, we have to say: now is the eleventh hour!