Zeit zu Reden

Absent, paralyzed, silenced – the cultural sector and Gaza A critical discussion about the reactions of German artists to October 7, 2023, and its consequences For two years and a half, the German cultural sector seems to have been operating under a glass dome. While cultural figures around the world are organizing benefit concerts for Gaza or setting up a Gaza Biennale with Palestinian artists, their colleagues in Germany are remarkably cautious. The fear of being marked as “anti-Israel” or “anti-Semitic” is too great. Until today, theater performances, concerts, and exhibitions are being canceled – anyone planning something critical avoids attracting attention. What are the social and political consequences of this silence? And how can theater directors, filmmakers, visual artists, and musicians reclaim a language that addresses the suffering and rights of all people? A critical discussion about the reactions of German cultural figures to October 7, 2023, and its consequences with Michael Bahrenboim, Sami Khatib, Susan Neiman, and Kathrin Peters. The discussion will be hosted by Kristin Helberg.

Michael Barenboim is a renowned violinist, professor at the Barenboim-Said Academy, and concertmaster of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Since early 2024, he has been in the public spotlight due to his repeated and clear statements on Gaza – including two appearances at the Federal Press Conference and at the “All Eyes on Gaza” demonstration, which he co-initiated and in which around 100,000 people took part. He is part of Make Freedom Ring, a collective of classical musicians that organizes concerts in support of Palestine, and a member of the Palestinian and Jewish Academics Association (PJA). He is also co-curator of Kilmé Talks, which provides a platform for Palestinian artists and academics, and directs the Nasmé Ensemble, a classical ensemble of Palestinian musicians.

Susan Neiman has been director of the Einstein Forum since 2000. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, she studied philosophy at Harvard University and the Free University of Berlin and received her doctorate from Harvard in 1986 under John Rawls. She was a professor of philosophy at Yale University and Tel Aviv University before taking over as director of the Einstein Forum. She is the author of ten books, which have been translated into fifteen languages, as well as over a hundred essays in publications such as the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, the Guardian, die ZEIT, der Spiegel, and other magazines. Neiman is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the American Philosophical Association. For further information, visit: www.susan-neiman.com

Kathrin Peters is Professor of History and Theory of Visual Culture at the Berlin University of the Arts. Her research focuses on media aesthetics, gender/queer studies, history of design, and critical university studies. She is a member of the advisory board of the Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft (Journal of Media Studies). Her most recent book publication is An den Rändern des Wissens. Über künstlerische Epistemologien (At the Edges of Knowledge: On Artistic Epistemologies), edited with B. Gronau and K. Busch, Bielefeld 2023.

Sami Khatib is Professor of Political and Social Aesthetics at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. Prior to his appointment at the HfG Karlsruhe in spring 2025, Khatib was most recently a research fellow at the German Oriental Institute in Beirut, where he conducted research on critical theory from the Global South. Since 2006, he has taught media philosophy, aesthetics, and art theory at renowned universities and art colleges worldwide, including the American University of Beirut, American University in Cairo, Leuphana University Lüneburg, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and the Free University of Berlin. His research focuses on critical theory, aesthetic theory, and continental philosophy. With his diverse academic background and international experience, he will be a valuable addition to the academic profile of the HfG.

Political scientist and journalist Kristin Helberg reported from Damascus on the Middle East for German, Austrian, and Swiss radio programs and various print and online media for seven years. Today, she works as an author, Middle East expert, and presenter in Berlin. Herder Verlag published her books Verzerrte Sichtweisen – Syrer bei uns. Von Ängsten, Miltssverständnissen und einem veränderten Land (Distorted Perspectives – Syrians Among Us: Fears, Mutual Understanding, and a Changed Country) (2016) and Der Syrien-Krieg. Lösung eines Weltkonflikts (The Syrian War: Solution to a Global Conflict) (2018). As a Mercator Foundation scholar, she researched the Syrian diaspora in Germany.