Berlin Senate abolishes inclusion and diversity in culture – We demand participation for all!

The Berlin Senate’s austerity measures disproportionately affect the area of inclusion and diversity – with cuts of 100 percent. The Senate is thus abolishing inclusion and diversity in culture!

The diversity fund (IMPACT funding) is being abolished. Over the past five years, this has been used to support countless projects by deaf and disabled artists. No other funding pot has enabled so much self-determined work by artists who were previously excluded from cultural funding and did not appear on stage.

The Foundation for Cultural Further Education and Cultural Advice will be abolished, and the Diversity Arts Culture project office founded in 2017 will be closed.
Its work in advising and training artists and institutions to break down barriers is indispensable for Berlin and beyond.

The diversity offensive will be canceled. Since 2022, it has been funding consultant positions for anti-discrimination and diversity development at various Berlin institutions in order to promote the removal of barriers for marginalized communities.

The general cuts to theaters and other cultural institutions mean that many of the accessibility measures for artists and audiences that have only been introduced in recent years will be discontinued.

This is a clear-cutting that massively affects disabled, deaf and chronically ill artists, as well as artists who are affected by racism, anti-Semitism, trans- and inter-hostility or other forms of discrimination. All of these struggles are intersectional.That is why we need broad solidarity from all of us against these austerity measures.

Not only are diversity and inclusion being mowed down here, but a conservative cultural policy that does not want a pluralistic society is also being implemented. This comes from Senator for Culture Joe Chialo, of all people, who is committed to social cohesion!

Germany signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. We are still a long way behind in implementing it.The cuts that have been decided on are throwing us back to zero.
Participation is not a gift in good times. The duty to give all people access to culture, as artists and as audiences, still applies. We demand participation for all!