HAUS DER KUNST berlin

The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, decided in the Spring of 2011 to discontinue the studio program Käuzchensteig for artists, located in the former state studio of Nazi sculptor Arno Breker. Instead the state-owned site is to be ceded to the Bernhard-Heiliger-Foundation, of which Wowereit is a council member, to be used as museum and seat of the foundation. For the de-construction 1.2 million Euro were granted from Lotto funds. An annual support of 160.000 Euro has been pledged by the Senate. As to the decisions concerning the actual construction and contents, the Heiliger-Foundation alone will be in charge. This rededication of the historically controversial site took place without any public discussion and involvement of the art scene. Since the 1970s the Berlin Cultural Senate and the DAAD artist program together awarded to artists ten studios established in the former Arno Breker state studio.The east wing of the building was used, since 1949, by Arno Breker's master student, Bernhard Heiliger. When he died, his widow remained there and founded the Bernhard-Heiliger-Foundation, assembling in its council a broad range of West-Berlin cultural and political notables. Meanwhile the artists had to leave the premises. Presently it looks like the conversion of the ten individual studios into Breker's main studio can't be stopped. Nevertheless the neglected debate on the utilization of the building must still take place. It is imperative to come to terms with the history of the building and to discuss it in public, as well as the question of the relationship between art and power arising in this context. Indeed, the functionalization of artists for political interests, the dichotomy between dependence and autonomy are as acute as ever. We request, therefore, of the new coalition of the Berlin Senate to reconsider their decision concerning the use of the former state studio of Arno Breker. As an alternative, the artists Dellbrügge & de Moll in cooperation with the BBK Berlin have developed a utilization concept. Under the title HAUS DER KUNST Berlin and with focus on ART AND POWER, the former state studio of Arno Breker in its new use is to accommodate both production and presentation. A project-based use does not only take account of the urgent need of studio space, but beyond that presents a lacking platform for artistic discourse and critical debate. The new name is meant as a direct reference to the Haus der Kunst Munich, where Arno Breker acted as a juror of the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung. Munich has achieved an effective critical re-construction of the Haus der Kunst. Berlin should equally not hesitate to embark on a thoughtful, transparent and emancipatory approach towards a good solution for the former state studio of Arno Breker Dellbrügge & de Moll www.hausderkunst-berlin.de