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Merkel in front of a screen: culture in sight
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The young actor from Berlin struggles with the words, his voice falters, his eyes glaze over. First he lost his job at the Karl May Festival due to the corona pandemic, then he could no longer work in retail due to the protective measures. Finally he complains to the Chancellor: “I can't - hold on! - live on 720 euros. I can't rob banks. ”He pleaded with the head of government for future prospects for himself and his own.
It is the big emotional outburst after a good 60 minutes of a factual dialogue that Angela Merkel arranged with cultural workers on Tuesday. At the video conference, which is professionally presented like a talk show, the Chancellor enters into a conversation with 14 people from the fields of film, theater, art or music for a total of 90 minutes. Merkel listens to concerns, she nods in agreement, she insists, she promises to get things going in consultation with the Ministry of Labor or with her Minister of State for Culture. You can't deny her a certain empathy.
Only with the visibly touched Karl May actor does she get a little stubborn.
First she sighs very long and very deeply, then, as if she were the moderator of the group, she draws attention to the fact that she is way behind schedule.
After all, she brings the poisoned compliment that the people she was talking to all belonged to an industry "where the word is their means".
As if it was slowly enough now, with all that cultivated talk.
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Merkel with moderator: A certain empathy cannot be denied
Photo: Pool / Getty Images
Nevertheless, one has to praise the level of detail with which very specific problems of the arts and culture professionals in pandemic times are discussed here.
For example, when a bookseller lists a total of six different business concepts that she has developed in accordance with the ever-changing corona protective measures and the fluctuating incidence values.
A chaos, the consequences of which the shopkeeper describes as follows: "If people cannot rely on anything, they question everything and the virus is laughing its sleeve." Meet possible ", then briefly puts out his argumentative weapons:" Even the emergency brake will not withstand the last logical question. "
"I'll look again"
Otherwise, the Chancellor tries to encourage. Sometimes more, sometimes less successful. She talks to a jazz trumpeter about the hygiene concepts of music clubs ("We will make it possible for them to have events for autumn"). With an actress about the job-specific problems of unemployment benefits (»I'll see if you can do something there«).
The speech by a freelance musician from Cologne, who reported about slow or non-existent aid payments, is disturbing.
Because of a group of fans built up over the last 20 years, she herself has a third of her income, while others have completely lost their livelihood.
The musician suggests that the concept of short-time work should also be applied to freelance colleagues.
The Chancellor listens and promises to discuss the idea with her Minister of State: "Monika Grütters has a heart for artists."
Does she have that?
Grütters was able to spend one billion euros on a first aid package at the federal level for culture.
Most recently, she even negotiated another 1.5 billion euros, which has now come back to a billion.
But does your distribution system work?
The truth is: The “Neustart Kultur” initiative got off to a tough start. Many applications could only be submitted months later. The "funding agencies", on the other hand, were allowed to close portals before the deadline if they were overwhelmed by the flood of applications. If you wanted to benefit from the support, you had to be quick. According to Grütters, only around 500 million euros have been approved of the first billion summoned - but only a part of it has actually been paid out so far.
The wheels of the bureaucracy grind slowly.
This could also become a problem in times after Corona, when the consequences of the pandemic have to be treated.
At the meeting with the Chancellor, an actress who is employed by a state theater points out that fewer and fewer freelancers can be hired at the theater and that less and less fresh impulses are brought to the stage.
After more than 80 minutes of concentrated special information, Merkel suddenly acts surprisingly alert and not just in her gesture.
She says: »Yes, society needs spaces for discourse, exchange has to be rehearsed again, you need more of it than less.
That will mean investment in the next few years. «A strong, resilient statement.
Or not? Because then the Chancellor, who will only be in office until autumn, adds: “I understand your concern and will take it with me to future budget discussions. Even if I'm not there anymore. "