Berlin cultural policy – ​​The resignation of Joe Chialo

The crowds are cheering, the flags are waving, the children are scattering flowers on the streets – Berlin’s Senator for Culture Joe Chialo has finally taken a step in the right direction, namely back. In a speech about his resignation it was said: “My political decisions were in clear contradiction to the principles that have shaped Berlin’s cultural landscape for years: diversity, inclusion and access for all.” He joins Stefan Evers, who recently served as Finance Senator resigned after a group of young people around LAMBDA stole the show from him at the opening of a queer Christmas market due to cuts in queer youth welfare. When pink money rained down on him and strangers in Kai Wegner masks danced around him, he says, Evers realized: “The creative forces are Berlin’s unique selling point. It is the job of the Finance Senator to particularly support those who cannot get money anywhere else.

Apparently he contacted Chialo directly with this request. He recently distinguished himself by contributing more than 120 million euros to Berlin’s austerity dictate – around 12 percent of the capital’s cultural budget. Due to the short-term nature of the cuts, there was chaos in Berlin’s cultural scene and fear in the psyche of artists threatened by poverty. Evil tongues claimed that it was Chialo’s revenge on the alternative and free scene, which until the very end had defended itself against his interventions with petitions and court cases – most prominently against the so-called anti-Semitism clause.

“I simply didn’t understand what the purpose of state funding for culture was,” explains Chialo now. »I thought it was about economics and entertainment. But now I have seen that the state also has a structural-building task! It’s also about giving people unexpected aesthetic experiences. Sophiensæle, Fourth World, Ballhaus Ost, for me these were just names on paper that investors wouldn’t pay for. They want prestige projects that are worth advertising. I’m sorry. I fell for capitalism. I allowed myself to be persuaded that a minimal state would be an optimal state, that good culture could emerge from the free play of forces on a free market. But this ‘free game’ is always calibrated and leveled by money and traditions not free. I would like to thank Stefan (Evers, editor’s note) for the long conversations over the last few days. And for reading Banu Khapil together. I apologize to the Berlin cultural workers. And I’m resigning.” As a successor, Chialo suggests artistic self-administration, “a kind of cultural Soviet.” But he doesn’t want to rest right now. Instead, he would like to use his newfound popularity to support the innn.it petition “Don’t ruin Berlin!” The ex-Culture Senator is also calling for the richest German, Lidl founder Dieter Schwarz, with his assets of around 45 billion euros to be included in the consolidation of Berlin.

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