Restart Culture: What lessons do we draw from the crisis for Federal Culture Promotion?

The COVID crisis, the aftermath of which is still felt, has made it clear how important a strong and sustainable federal culture promotion is.

Restart culture offered the opportunity to rethink funding programs It is crucial that the Federal Government continues to take the right measures in this context and provide sufficient financial support.

The German Cultural Council plays a central role here. The Federal Association of Fine Artists, based in Berlin, is also an important partner to find information and contact with the funding opportunities.

Effects of the corona crisis on art, cultural and media sector

Coronapandemic , which lasted from 2020 to 2023, had devastating effects on the art, cultural and media sector . The measures to contain the virus meant that public and private cultural institutions and event locations had to close to a large scale.

As a result, normal cultural life with its thousands of daily offers in the entire country was severely restricted. These closures had far -reaching consequences for artists , but also for the affected cultural locations, institutions and associations .

Many of them got into existential emergencies and were confronted with concern that they would not survive this difficult time economically. For many people, this was a deep cut into their professional life and an enormous psychological stress.

Because not only their livelihood was at stake , but also their passion and commitment to art and culture were massively affected. The loss of appearances or exhibition options not only meant a financial break -in, but often also a difficult personal loss.

In addition, the restrictions in the cultural area also had a major impact on the audience . People could no longer visit live concerts, theater performances were canceled and museum visits were made impossible.

The need for cultural participation could therefore not be met in many places .

Long way back to the "normality"

The consequences of this crisis will be felt for a long time. Many artists had to look for alternative ways to continue to be able to present their art. Virtual exhibitions, online concerts and streaming offers were increasingly used to achieve the audience despite the closures.

Nevertheless, there is concern that the art, cultural and media sector is weakened in the long term. The trust in the stability of this area has been shaken and great efforts are required to return to normality.

Pleasure and importance of the cultural sector for our society

It is important to recognize the enormous contribution of the art, cultural and media sector for our society. It enriches our lives in a variety of ways and contributes significantly to cultural exchange and identity formation. Therefore, we should be aware of how essential these areas are and support them - both financially and through our participation in cultural events.

Coronapandemic has shown how vulnerable the art, cultural and media sector is. It is now up to work together to work together that it emerges strengthened from this crisis - so that normal cultural life with all its facets can soon take place.

Help and support programs during the crisis

economic funding programs were also used in the cultural sector, but they often proved to be unsuitable.

Public cultural institutions and companies in the cultural industry also had the opportunity short -time work . Access to basic security also made easier.

However, special support programs from the federal government, the federal states and sometimes also by the municipalities were crucial for survival and progress in the cultural sector. In addition to financial help, these programs also sent an important signal:

Art and culture are indispensable for our society. "

This was both economic importance for this sector and a broader recognition of its role. restart culture played a particularly important role , which was launched by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.

With a volume of 2 billion euros over three years and a decentralized award, this program should help to clever the effects of pandemic on non -profit organizations and private companies in the field of art and culture and to strengthen their future.

The focus of restart culture was on three main areas:

1. Financing of measures related to pandemic
2. Strengthening and expanding the cultural infrastructure
3. Development of alternative cultural offers, including digital formats.

In addition, financial losses and additional financial needs were partially absorbed by state -funded institutions and projects as a result of pandemic.

The music initiative played a crucial role in the implementation of sub -programs for the music industry . Their sub-programs focused primarily on the live music industry, which was particularly affected by the corona pandemic.

The funding could be used for the organization and implementation of music events and festivals.

In the course of the NEUSTART Culture program, the federal government has provided a total of 7 million euros for the pop scholarship to compensate for the negative effects of corona pandemic.

In the period from 2022 to 2023, BV Pop awarded a total of 1124 scholarships to artists: inside the field of pop music. Particular attention was paid to young musicians: inside and their support in the further development of their professionalism through advice and coaching.

The role of Federal Culture Promotion in times of restart

In times of restart, the role of Federal Culture Promotion is of crucial importance for the revival of the cultural scene.

The restart culture offers an opportunity to pull the lessons out of the crisis and enable improved support from the federal government. It is important to provide support to the artistic creators and cultural institutions in order to implement their projects and programs.

Federal culture promotion plays an important role here by providing financial resources and thus enables the implementation of art and cultural projects. This is particularly important for smaller projects or those that are in an assembly phase.

The funding can be made, for example, in the form of grants or scholarships . In addition, the Federal Association of Socioculture EV an important role in supporting socio -cultural centers and visual art projects.

His work provides information about current funding programs and contacts between artists and potential supporters are made.

Another aspect is digital transformation in the field of art and culture . The use of digital media can make access to works of art easier and thus reach new target groups. Social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram , Tiktok and Co. offer opportunities for networking and the distribution of information about cultural events.

In order to make the restart of culture in the best possible way, it is important to take into account the needs and attitudes of the artists. Close cooperation between the actors of Federal Culture Promotion and the artists is therefore essential. Optimal funding structures can only be created through an open dialogue and continuous evaluation.

Did the support program restart culture? A statement by the German Cultural Council

Under the leadership of the German Culture Council, regular meetings have been held since 2020, in which Federal Culture Associations, Fund, Foundations and other institutions came together. These organizations have given funds from the federal program Neustart Kultur (2020 to 2023).

The aim of the meetings was to exchange experiences and to discuss opportunities for improvement in the implementation of the programs. In addition, synergies should be made possible when granting funding. However, the German Cultural Council itself has not distributed any funding.

After completing the funding period in the summer of 2023, it shows clearly: The restart culture had positive effects and went beyond the pure stabilization of the existing one.

It has contributed to further developing the cultural area in the face of social and economic changes in our reality of life in recent years and showing additional needs.

The success factors of restart culture

specific success factors worked out here

Close interlinking in the cultural sector

The 78 individual programs that have been carried out over a period of three years were developed in close cooperation with the cultural sector.

The wide range of the Federal Culture Associations, the Federal Cultural Fund, the Cultural Foundation of the Board and the Cultural Foundation of the States, as well as other cultural support organizations and exploitation companies were involved in the financing and are involved in the decision -making processes together with the cultural actors.

Opening of possibilities

Events could not take place due to the pandemic, so the individual programs were developed to open opportunities.

In particular, these opportunities should serve to stabilize the artistic and entrepreneurial activity, to realign and expand and to reorganize not publicly funded cultural institutions.

Fast organizational development

The means of sufficient institutions have further developed their organization, optimized processes, promoted digitization and increased their staff.

This development was a significant challenge that was mastered with high expectation pressure on the part of the cultural scene, politics, administration as well as the public and the media.

The full statement of the German Cultural Council on the Federal Promotion Program Neustart Culture and its effect can be found here: "Restart Culture: Use experiences to strengthen the accuracy and economy of Federal Culture Promotion" .

Challenges in implementing improved cultural funding

Improved cultural promotion still has numerous challenges in the context of starting culture after the crisis.

Federal culture promotion plays a crucial role here to support developments in the cultural scene and to bring cultural life back to bloom.

Therefore, with a view to the Federal Culture Promotion, the German Cultural Council sees a need for action and demands that the following aspects to be taken into account in future funding approaches:

• Continue to rely on the allocation of funding
• Eliminate investment backlog
• Drive digitization forward
• Balanced ratio of project and structural promotion
• Keeping administrative considerations
• Continue exchanging the medium -reaching institutions under the roof of the German Cultural Council

A few days before the statement on restarting culture, the Cultural Council also called for an impact on the self -employed person to improve the self -employed and to further develop it in perspective. Especially in the cultural and media sector, the independent activity is typical in many fields. However, these self -employed people are excluded from the outset due to the initial requirement, since they were not previously employed or unemployed.