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Light art in Gelsenkirchen: freedom of art or censorship? Kujević in dispute!
Gelsenkirchen refuses to install Kujević on the political rhetoric of the AfD, discusses freedom of art and neutrality.
Light art in Gelsenkirchen: freedom of art or censorship? Kujević in dispute!
Excitement in Gelsenkirchen: The light art installation "Hallender Hass" by the artist Kujević was to be presented as part of the gold piece festival on October 2nd. But the city decided without further ado to rule out the work from the exhibition. What is behind this controversial decision?
"HASS" addresses the normalization of right rhetoric and contains quotes from AfD politicians who should be projected on walls and should be made audible via loudspeakers. In addition, the installation shows pictures of right -wing extremist violence, a provocative examination of a sensitive political topic. The city of Gelsenkirchen justifies its decision to unload the neutrality requirement and does not see the work compatible with these requirements. WDR reports that Kujević criticized in the interview that it was not entitled to determine a city when art was too political.
Political influence or freedom of art?
Kujević, who studies at the "University of Fine Arts Saar", suspects political influence on the curators of the festival. It describes the situation as a "dangerous precedent" and asks the question of whether and how art can be presented in the future if it does not meet the political wishes of the moment. "The city of Gelsenkirchen could have stood for freedom of art," she continued to talk, and thus set a clear signal against censorship.
The AfD has gained influence after the last local elections and has risen to the second strongest political force in Gelsenkirchen. A fact that may have contributed to the decision of the city. Deutschlandfunk pointed out that Kujević's installation was previously shown and it was previously created for the creation of a critical discussion space has pleaded that enables an open dialogue about current social developments.
Social responsibility and art
The discussion about the freedom of art is a hot iron. As the Politics Culture, political interventions in culture are not only an issue in Germany. In many European countries, this leads to a weakening of the resilience of democratic societies. Art takes on the important role of reflecting on social conditions and cannot simply be politically exploited. If the freedom of art is restricted, this endangers democracy.
With Kujević's installation, the question arises as to how much influence politics may have on creative forms of expression. Art is a mirror of society and it is up to us to protect it so that it can do justice to its function. Can it be the solution if freedom of art is behind the neutrality requirement? This area of tension is now all the more obvious in Gelsenkirchen and every voice counts.