Arts Projects’ Futures Uncertain Following Berlin Culture Senator’s Resignation

Following months of pressure, Berlin’s culture senator last week resigned her position after fresh details emerged of her role in a €2.6 million (£2.255 million) funding scandal.

Sarah Wedl-Wilson stepped down from her post after a report by the Berlin Court of Auditors found she had “unlawfully” allocated public funds to 13 cultural bodies dedicated to combating antisemitism—many through arts-based projects.

The report found that the projects had been “neither correctly chosen nor professionally vetted” by Wedl-Wilson’s culture department, and that funds were “arbitrarily” and “clearly unlawfully” distributed.

It is yet to be decided whether the organisations will have to pay back any public financing they were awarded.

In her resignation statement, Wedl-Wilson said she was stepping down “above all to prevent harm to the vital fight against rising antisemitism in Berlin”.

Irregularities in funding applications

The review by the Berlin Court of Auditors explored the process of awarding funding to the 13 groups, not the merits of their work.

The roster of projects, which includes proposals for a film, an exhibition and an art fair, began attracting scrutiny last year owing to irregularities in the funding application process.

It has been reported that state secretary Oliver Friederic, who was sacked by Wedl-Wilson just days before her own resignation, was among those who had raised concerns about this process.

The full list of projects, published in the German Senate Department’s report to the Main Committee of the Berlin House of Representatives last August, includes a “Berlin/Tel Aviv” art fair, and an animated web series called JoJo and Simha Exploring Berlin 3000.

According to the report, the former project was organised by The Institute for New Social Sculpture—a group of artists, directors and authors who, per the organisation’s website, develop works from a Jewish perspective and advise on combatting antisemitism—and was awarded €99,875 (£86,590).

The latter, organised by Mosaik GCB, a “freshly founded” non-profit organisation focused on “bridging global cultures”, was awarded €89,981 (£78,013).

The document also lists €1,383,840 (£1,199,443) in support for a Berlin staging of The Nova Exhibition, which has also toured the USA and London. The installation details the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on the Nova Music Festival in Israel, during which almost 400 people were killed and more than 40 were kidnapped.

Since the attack, Germany has seen a marked rise in incidents of antisemitism.

Looking for details

As controversy surrounding the projects began to emerge before many were completed, details about exactly how they might have come to life are scarce.

However, some appear to deal with German-Jewish history, such as Abraham’s Family Stories by Discover Jewish Europe, which “brings together Jewish and non-Jewish artists to make a relevant contribution against antisemitism, racism and xenophobia”, and was awarded €99,176 (£85,986).

Several other works appear focused on the aftermath of 7 October. One such project, Youth campaign against antisemitism: We are Shani Louk by the Association for the Promotion of German-Jewish Theatre Performances, is a reference to the young German-Israeli woman killed during the Nova Festival attack and was awarded €118,000 (£102,315).

Wedl-Wilson’s resignation comes less than a year after Berlin’s former culture minister, Joe Chialo, stepped down following backlash over proposed cuts to the arts in the German capital, and just five months before the city heads to the polls in its next state election.