ZK/U - Fact Finding Committee #03: Solidarity³ - ZK/U Fact Finding Committee #03
ZK/U Fact Finding Committee #03 ( Germany )
Between Art, (Club-) Culture and Resistant Structures
Lena Fritsch, Larissa Krause, Thomas Lehnen, Michel Klaus Sperber
Illustration: Jule Roschlau
The question “If under attack - How to react?” constitutes the frame for the investigation. As this question is no longer a theoretical one, the UA#03 will come up with ways how to defend and protect non-capitalist spaces and present as well as develop new practical tools. The implications of there outcomes for reaction may also affect current strategies created for and within “alternative” (club-)culture. The first focus of the investigation is dedicated to the rise of neo-fascist movement and its effects on the cultural and arts scene. Living in capitalistic Western societies implicates a wide set of contradictions, which recently started to burst. This strengthened the positions of right-wing radical and populist groups and parties in Berlin, as well as throughout Germany, Europe and the world. Cultural institutions recently had to face more and more attacks, performed by right-wing alliances and often led by the AfD - which is the parliamentary arm of the new right in Germany.
In a second inquiry the UA#03 looks into the currently endangered spaces of Berlin with the aim to find out what it means to actually live and work there, how the social and political bonds are build in such a structure and how one can get active. Especially for the young generation this is a critical issue, often having less privileges and lacking perspectives. Starting from the hypotheses, that free spaces are crucial for a thriving city and the people who are living and working in it, the UA#03 will explore the effects of creative protest initiatives in the (club-)cultural scene. With the aim to build alternative narratives pointing out of the capitalistic and neo-fascist era and to come up with strategies and practical examples how one can successfully defend free spaces for alternative clubculture, cultural production in general and in the field of arts and activism.
This leads to the last focus area of the UA#03 team. It will be devoted to the people who are actually doing all the (mostly) unpaid work. To show which structures have already been invented and created by activists and artists, to avoid the predictable scenario of a soon-to-come utopian-burn-out and hopefully come up with ideas to create persistent, sustainable and resistant structures of solidarity.
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Die dritte Ausgabe des ZK/U Untersuchungsausschuss untersucht Solidaritätspraktiken in den Bereichen Kunst, Aktivismus und alternativer (Club-)Kultur. Im Mittelpunkt des dreimonatigen Forschungsprojektes steht ein Team von Aktivist*innen, die sich mit der Szene alternativer Clubkultur (in Abgrenzung zu der profitorientierten) und antifaschistischer Protestbewegungen - vor allem in Berlin - beschäftigen. Die Bewegung und Arbeit in diesem Bereich, der sich aus der jahrzehntelangen Produktion von (Club-)Kultur, Kunst und antikapitalistisch und widerständigen Strukturen entwickelt hat, ermöglicht es dem Team, eine neu entstandene Stimme zu den aktuellen Strömen des antifaschistischen Aktivismus zu untersuchen. Der UA#03 wird untersuchen, was dies im Hinblick auf politisches Handeln für zukünftige Proteste und Aktionen bedeutet. Ziel ist es, durch Beispiele aus dem praktischen Widerstand zu inspirieren, zu motivieren und diese kritisch zu hinterfragen. Der Ausschuss wird während der Veranstaltungen den Rahmen schaffen, sich gemeinsam mit Akteur*innen und Initiativen aus Berlin über nachhaltige widerständige Strukturen gegen Gentrifizierung und kapitalistischer Verwertungslogiken auszutauschen sowie den Dialog starten, um gemeinsam gegen aufkommende faschistische Tendenzen langfristig handlungsfähig zu sein.
Das Projekt wird von der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa gefördert. // The project is funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.