B6112 – Art After All

We, Staub zu Glitzer, a queer-feminist artist collective, have been working since September 2017 within our trans medial production, “B6112” in and around Berlin’s Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. “B6112” is a collective artwork that aims to radically democratize and open up the theater.

After the failed negotiations regarding the implementation of our demands with the current artistic director, we felt compelled to prepare a renewed occupation of the Volksbühne last fall.

On September 16, 2022, we were informed by a newspaper article that the current artistic director of the Volksbühne, René Pollesch, had “warned the staff with an internal communication against a renewed occupation of the theater.” In this case, he announced an “immediate eviction by the police”. He had already “notified the cultural administration and the police” and asked for increased attention: “the outer doors should be closed and conspicuous activities reported.”

In other words, Pollesch has decided to play the role of a reactionary artistic director – an interesting twist. Power corrupts, apparently, because in 2017 he was still one of the squatters himself. For us and many others, the cooperation with the police is a clear transgression of boundaries. We also interpret the announcement of a police eviction as a stage direction within our transmedial production.

Good art costs money. A police eviction is undoubtedly “state of the art”.

In order to make this radical but brilliant dramaturgical shift by cult director René Pollesch possible, we are forced to recalculate our production budget. Due to the repression costs that will arise because of the arranged police evacuation, we are dependent on support. As a result of the large number of artistic participants, experience shows that the repression and bailout fund will represent a significant item in our budgeting.

According to investigations of the responsible department for “Violence and State Protection”, the police eviction of the Volksbühne on 28.09.2017, ordered by the former artistic director Chris Dercon after only 6 days, resulted in a fine of 40 daily salaries of 15,- Euro per participant. A fine based on daily salary means, the larger the income, the higher the fine.

This year, due to the political developments in our society as a whole, we expect a significantly larger number of participants and thus higher repressive measures.

Therefore we calculate 611, 200 Euro for the time being and ask for donations.

With the announced police evacuation, financial burdens are not the only cost to arise. The physical, psychological and social integrity of the participants is also put at risk. However, this damage cannot be quantified in monetary terms.

With your donation you oppose the criminalization of political art and commit yourself to the radical democratization and opening of cultural institutions, and the Volksbühne am Rosa Luxemburg-Platz in particular.

The Commonization of this particular left theater is an absolute necessity due to the multiple crises of our time, including the current theater crisis. Instead of an artistic directorship, we demand radical transformation: a solidary self-organized community, transparent democratic negotiation processes, and the overcoming of bourgeois exclusivity. Anti-racism, queer-feminism and anti capitalism must no longer be abused as tokens, but must be consistently translated into organizational structures. This is the only way, artistic autonomy and new modes of relations can grow.

Disclaimer: We are a non-violent collective that makes political art with peaceful means. For many years we have always worked with awareness and security structures. In building a Volksbühne of the Commons, we reject violence. We reject misanthropy of any kind – ableism, racism, anti semitism, sexism, classism or ageism, both structural and explicit, as well as vandalism. They are not tolerated in our work structures and can lead to exclusion.

Our goals are the queer-feminist Commonization of the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz and the decriminalization of emancipatory engagement. We consider the Commonization of cultural institutions as an urgent necessity within the socio-ecological transformation of society as a whole. Our crowdfunding addresses all people who oppose racism, sexism and capitalist relations of exploitation as well as related police violence. At the same time, the democratization and opening of cultural institutions and the decriminalization of civic engagement are supported.

With your donation, you are opposing the criminalization of political art and are committed to the radical democratization and opening of cultural institutions in general and the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in particular.

Furthermore, donors receive a Squat-Chain Coin, which was designed by supporters, as a .jpg file. Each coin is a work of art and stands for solidarity.

The money will be used completely and traceably for arising repression costs (fines, court costs, lawyers’ costs). If this is not necessary, the amount will either be given to the new Volksbühne organizational structure and administered collectively or donated to initiatives that work against police violence. Staub zu Glitzer itself will not keep any money.