Contemporary Art - Science - Urbanism - Digital Culture

Cultural Policy Salon of the Stiftung Zukunft Berlin at the CLB Berlin.

With:
Clara Herrmann, District Mayor of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.
Aissatou Binger and Geraldine Hepp, Directors of the Carnival of Cultures

Moderation:
Andreas Richter & Sven Sappelt, Forum Future Culture at the Foundation Future Berlin.

Berlin is changing rapidly. The dynamic developments bring new challenges to living together in the capital. The population is growing without basic infrastructures being able to catch up fast enough. Complaints about dysfunctional structures and overburdened administrations are increasing. Conflicts over limited goods such as childcare places, affordable housing or sustainable transportation concepts are intensifying. The diversity of languages, lifestyles and world views is shaking up old habits. Rich and poor, left and right, cyclists and car traffic, war refugees and people who understand Putin – the fractures and lines of conflict that run through society are more numerous than they have been for a long time. In view of this situation, understanding how we want to resolve all these conflicts and shape our coexistence appears to be one of the most important tasks for democracy in this country.

Culture plays a central role in this – something that occasionally seems to be forgotten – in several respects: First, because in the broadest sense it is cultural factors such as ways of thinking, beliefs or everyday practices that shape the way we live together. And secondly, because culture in the narrower sense has a variety of formats to offer that have a positive impact on the community – from practices of self-reflection to community actions to festivals and holidays.

As Stiftung Zukunft and CLB, we would also like to contribute to this much-needed (self-)understanding process. In the past, we have already organized relevant events in this regard. Most recently at the Berlin Forum with a discussion on cultural participation and Berlin as a home port for exiles.

In our cultural policy salon on June 19, 2023, we will pick up this thread again and discuss diversity and cohesion in Berlin with representatives from politics, administration, culture and citizenship.

Foto: Berlin Indiawaale, Copyright Frank Löhmer.