[STILL] CLAIMING DISCOURSE
[STILL] CLAIMING DISCOURSE serves as a critical space for reflection following the Bundestag elections. It focuses on strengthening and defending art and culture as spaces for transformation, even in a reality shaped by polarization and austerity. In light of political changes, we ask: How can art and culture survive in this shifting landscape? How do we maintain our stance when resources shrink and political support wanes? The answers lie in new cultural funding models, building alliances, practicing solidarity, and poetic imagination.
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Past dates
Thursday
4/3/25
5:30 PM
k2
until 19:30
Austerity and Art – Strategies for Resilient Cultural Funding
Following massive budget cuts, artistic production must reorient itself under precarious conditions. How can a sustainable future for the arts be secured? What new alliances are needed?
After a brief welcome by artistic director Amelie Deuflhard, a greeting will be delivered by Konrad Schmidt-Werthern (Permanent Representative of the Senior Official at the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media, BKM). Dr. Sibylle Peters (performance artist, cultural scholar) will then provide a keynote address introducing current questions and challenges facing the independent performing arts.
A panel discussion featuring four politicians will explore cultural policy strategies and funding models for the performing arts:
Dr. Carsten Brosda (Senator for Culture and Media, Hamburg, SPD)
Annekatrin Klepsch (Mayor for Culture, Science, and Tourism of the State Capital Dresden, The Left)
Daniel Wesener (Former Senator for Finance of the State of Berlin, Greens)
Dr. Konrad Schmidt-Werthern (Permanent Representative of the Senior Official at the BKM)
The discussion will be held in German and moderated by Vladimir Balzer (journalist, Deutschlandfunk).
Friday
4/4/25
6:00 PM
k2
until 19:30
What activist alliances are needed in the current political landscape? How can constructive collaboration be achieved, what challenges lie ahead, and how can solidarity be put into practice? Organizing means building trust—but how can this succeed, especially in times of widespread conflict? It also requires crafting narratives that resonate with many. How can such stories be shaped? And finally, where and how should we position our demands?
These and related questions will be explored by a roundtable of experts, activists, and journalists working in the fields of anti-discrimination, migrant rights, climate justice, and LGBTQIA+ rights, all of whom organize for societal plurality.
The discussion will be held in German and moderated by Carina Book, editor at the monthly magazine ak – analyse & kritik.
Panelists
Andrea Hübler (she/her) is a political scientist based in Dresden, where she lives, works, and advocates. As managing director of the Regional Offices for Education, Counseling, and Democracy (RAA Sachsen e.V.), she leads, among other initiatives, counseling services for victims of far-right, racist, and antisemitic violence in Saxony.
Arne Semsrott (he/him) is a journalist and activist. He heads the investigative transparency platform FragDenStaat, which secured the publication of the "NSU files," among other achievements. In 2024, he released his bestselling book Machtübernahme (Power Grab).
Website: fragdenstaat.de, Instagram: arne.semsrott
Daniel Manwire (he/him) is a biologist and social worker. Active in the anti-nuclear movement since 1994, he has personally attended every nuclear waste transport ("Castor") protest. He has campaigned against the "greenhouse effect" since the mid-1980s and, since 2015, has participated in Ende Gelände actions with the Anti-Atom-Büro Hamburg, including the struggle for the village of Lützerath in the Rhineland coal fields.
Dîlan Sina Balhan (she/her) is a lawyer based in Hamburg. For years, she has been active in anti-racist and anti-fascist coalitions across various contexts. She also works as a freelance educator, writer, and moderator on socio-political issues, splitting her time between Hamburg and Berlin.
Renée Grothkopf (she/her, no pronouns) holds an M.A. in Sociology and History from the University of Hamburg. A drummer in experimental and extreme (non-)music, they focus on building solidarity-based and queer spaces, emphasizing abolitionist theory and practice with a lens on multiply marginalized individuals in the queer community. Since 2019, they have worked as a freelance writer for outlets like Missy Magazine and are part of the theater and performance collective Estupefacta. They also work as a secretary and boxing trainer.
Saturday
4/5/25
2:30 PM
kx
Mit der Filmdokumentation [ÒDIO] erforscht MOTUS, Italiens führendes freies Theaterkollektiv, die Verflechtung von Diskriminierung und Hass. Als Teil einer Frankenstein-Trilogie inspiriert von der Kreatur, die ihre eigene Ausgrenzung erkennt und zum Monster wird, verbindet [ÒDIO] literarische Fiktion mit den Erfahrungen junger Europäer*innen.
Saturday
4/5/25
4:30 PM
k2
until 18:00
MOSTLY FEELING GREAT
RACE, CLASS, UTOPIA
“When I was a child I thought that I was the girl on the side of the hair relaxer box. I’ve tried many times but can never seem to track her down but I suppose I don’t need to because I am her.”
Following Samra’s poetry lecture, Eric Otieno Sumba and Samra Mayanja will engage in a conversation about how life speaks poetry—and how poetry, in turn, can reveal and inspire our actions in unexpected and offward ways. The event will be held in English.
Samra Mayanja is a London-based artist and writer. Her work examines the body’s illegibility and the absurdity of seeking what is inherently lost. Specifically a clown-like pursuit of the impossible. The theme of searching—futile yet hopeful—runs through her work. She blends sexy-gone-sour slapstick and poetic monologues, with tender vocalisations.
Eric Otieno Sumba is a writer, editor, and independent researcher with a background in social theory, political economy, postcolonial studies and art criticism. He is currently editor (publication practices) at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin. His work has been published in Contemporary And, Africa is a Country, Lolwe, The Guardian, Griotmag, Frieze, Texte zur Kunst, and Camera Austria, among others.
Instagram: Samra-Auntie Samwa, Eric-Africionado
Saturday
4/5/25
6:30 PM
k2
until 20:00
Own it: Attitude
On Challenges and Artistic Stance
The past year brought numerous challenges for artists and cultural workers. Funding cuts, increasing political pressure, and debates about restrictions on artistic and free expression characterize the current climate. How can independent artists and institutional cultural professionals maintain their stance, strategically position demands, and continue creating critical, relevant art?
What relationship can—and should—progressive art have with the conservative developments of our time? And how can effective collective action be achieved? Joana Tischkau, Sahar Rahimi, Holger Bergmann, and Heinrich Horwitz will discuss these questions and more. The discussion will be held in German and moderated by Amelie Deuflhard.
Participants
Sahar Rahimi (b. 1981, Tehran) is a director, writer, and performer whose work spans theater, performance, installation, and video. She studied at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies in Giessen (2003–2008) and co-founded the performance group Monster Truck, which received the 2019 Tabori Award for their body of work. As a solo director, Rahimi has worked at Theater Basel, Theater im Bahnhof Graz, and Vienna’s Schauspielhaus. From 2026, she and Mark Schröppel will co-direct the Brecht Festival Augsburg.
Heinrich Horwitz is a director, choreographer, and actor. Their work encompasses independent productions, municipal and state theaters, and contemporary music. A 2023 Tabori Award winner, Horwitz performs at venues like Berlin’s Schaubühne and Hanover State Opera (2023/24 season) while teaching directing at the Ludwigsburg Academy of Performing Arts. They are also a signatory of the #ActOut manifesto and an activist.
Joana Tischkau works as an artist, choreographer, and director. Her practice exposes hegemonic visual regimes and deconstructs discourses on cultural appropriation, reference systems, and authenticity. Based in Frankfurt and Berlin, she creates performances, musicals, dance theater, public interventions, and participatory workshops. She received the 2024 Tabori Award.
Holger Bergmann is a curator, mentor, and managing director of Berlin’s Fonds Darstellende Künste (Performing Arts Fund) since 2016. He co-founded the politically engaged alliance DIE VIELEN (2017–2025) and the Ringlokschuppen Ruhr theater production center (2002–2014). Currently, he serves on advisory boards for Germany’s performing arts council and cultural policy initiatives, including the redevelopment of Nuremberg’s Congress Hall (former Nazi party rally grounds).
Amelie Deuflhard began her career in 1996 as a freelance production manager for theater and music projects. In addition to being the artistic director of Berlin’s Sophiensæle (2000–2007), she co-initiated the interim artistic use of the dismantled Palast der Republik (Volkspalast). Since 2007, she has directed Hamburg’s Kampnagel, transforming it into a major European production hub. Awarded the 2022 Berlin Theater Prize, she publishes widely and frequently serves on juries.
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