Up & Down – Turn Around

With tackling climate change an ever more urgent goal, the German constitutional court has ruled that the government must instate concrete, long-term measures, going beyond 2030, to protect coming generations. What role can and should the arts play in climate protection? Being federally structured, Germany has no national arts ministry. But it has some state-run cultural institutions, such as the Humboldt Forum, the Berlin State Opera, various memorials – and the Federal Arts Foundation, which organizes projects in all fields of the arts. One of its projects looks at the ecological footprints of arts institutions. 

BTR talked to the Federal Arts Foundation’s artistic director, Hortensia Völckers, and project director Sebastian Brünger to find out more. 

The restoration and extension work on Bergamo’s historic Teatro Donizetti was completed by the end of last year, despite the long and strict lockdown – the Corona pandemic hit the town in northern Italy especially badly. Now hopes are high that this architectural jewel will soon open its doors again for the public to bask in its familiar glory and admire its improvements.

Die Kulturstiftung des Bundes greift mit ihrem aktuellen Pilotprojekt „Klimabilanzen in Kulturinstitutionen“ ein dringliches Thema auf. Es wird ernst mit dem Klimaschutz, das Verfassungsgericht fordert konkrete Maßnahmen über 2030 hinaus. Welchen Beitrag kann und muss die Kultur leisten? Dazu nehmen die Künstlerische Direktorin der Kulturstiftung des Bundes, Hortensia Völckers, sowie Projektleiter Sebastian Brünger Stellung.