Actually, the art festival “Gegenwarten” is supposed to be in on Saturday Chemnitz to be opened. But one day earlier it was suddenly called the Berliner Artist collective Peng! had to remove his contribution, an exhibition on “Antifa – Myth and Truth”, from the city’s art collection. The group was unloaded at the last minute, it was announced. “Chemnitz cancels Antifa art exhibition,” wrote Peng! in a statement.
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However, the city denied it. “The exhibition remains as it is,” was reported on Chemnitz’s official Twitter account. Bang! stay a part of the “present” art festival. Whereupon bang! replied that the group had been made unmistakably clear that the exhibition would now be dismantled. And now?
The artist collective Peng! remains, it said on Friday evening in a press release from the art collection. Other reports would be rejected by the general manager Frédéric Bussmann. Saturday will be opened.
What happened?
In the course of the exhibition concept, there were misunderstandings, said Bußmann. But these have now been cleared. By bang! it sounds like this: The reason for the withdrawn projection was part of the exhibition. A wall text criticize them “Horseshoe theory”, so the “fatal equation of anti-fascists and violent neo-Nazis”, and their dissemination by the CDU, FDP and AfD. At the very last minute, the museum demanded that the party names be removed, referring to the principle of political neutrality.
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“The structures in Saxony are apparently so extremist that a harmless art exhibition is canceled because three right-wing parties are mentioned in one corner as part of a work of art,” said the press spokeswoman for the artists’ collective, Nika Blum. The collective would have to comply with this demand not in question, it was said. One sees the freedom of art threatened. Perhaps this is how the last sentence of the press release of the art collection is to be understood: “The texts used in the art project will be checked again under the aspect of artistic freedom,” it says So it seems that the reference to Article 5 of the Basic Law has worked.
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In terms of cultural history, the exhibition deals with myths and truths through ten exhibits of anti-fascist work, writes Peng! Ten objects were bought for the show, including the spray can Irmela Mensah-Schramms, with which the “political plasters” Hate graffiti sprayed over, or a beer crate that is dedicated to the residents of Ostritz, the entire Buying stock of beer from the local supermarketwhen there Right-wing extremists met for a festival.
To participate in the art festival, which is financed by the city of Chemnitz and the Federal Culture Foundation, Peng! receive a grant of 20,000 euros, reported the “taz”. The artists bought the objects for 1000 euros each under the slogan “State money for the Antifa”, explains the group. The exhibits can be bought on eBay on August 22nd.
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This controversy should not come in handy for the city of Chemnitz: The city is applying as European Capital of Culture 2025. The “present” art festival should support the application as a cosmopolitan city. Chemnitz would have had some positive headlines after the Riots of 2018 can also use quite well, now as a city on the right Cancel Culture to stand there, not at all. Competitor Hanover promptly offered the Peng! Collective “Kunstasyl”.
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And who does this farce benefit now? Maybe the artist collective. If that were a PR guerrilla campaign, it would have provided plenty of advertising.
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