2014,

after the butcher

Ausstellungsraum für zeitgenössische Kunst und soziale Fragen

2014,

2006

Spittastraße

25

Berlin

10317

after-the-butcher.de

The pandemic gave us a pause and became a forced hiatus. For us, it didn’t make sense to organize events or to move into the digital space during the last year. A willingness to think outside the box, to implement short-term funding, and to listen to the needs of the community. Not everyone requires long term investments; others would like to apply for EUR 500 to develop a project for next month. These quick, low-cost funding opportunities are not clearly available yet. When implementing initiatives, first think about the places and the people you are trying to serve. Requiring project spaces to have a program mapped out six months in advance, or ask for only German-language applications is not responding to the community.The city has become more expensive overall and therefore there is less free space – there are less “Freiräume”. Our definition has not changed as a project space. The concept of an ideal space is completely dependent on what the organizers/artists/curators are interested in doing. In our opinion, there isn’t ONE type of space that is ideal which is actually what is so wonderful about project spaces in general – they are diverse, and completely different. It seems that because of the lack of spaces and the increased rents, more project spaces have turned towards commercial models. But since funding has become more commonplace in the scene, meaning it’s more common to pay artists who are involved in shows, performances, readings, events, etc. at project spaces, this has put more pressure on spaces in general to have to secure financing. We would argue that since funding has become more readily available, the structures have begun to change. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword. It’s wonderful to receive funding and be able to support artists, and as a result, the scene has become much more professional. But at the same time, it is harder in some ways to do projects more spontaneously and in an improvised fashion. This, as a result, has changed the (power) dynamics between the artists and the project space organizers, as very often the organizers are NOT funded but the artists participating in the projects are. This creates a rather awkward dynamic and as organizers ourselves, it’s frustrating for us to not be paid for our efforts and contributions to the “Freie Szene”.Die Gründung des Netzwerks hat unsere Arbeit verändert: Es gibt eine Website, einen Kalender und eine E-Mail-Liste, die die Zusammenarbeit und den Austausch von Informationen erleichtern. Es ist von größter Bedeutung, einen Gesprächspartner zu haben, der in unserem Namen sprechen kann, der den Dialog mit den Politiker*innen aufrechterhält, der den zukünftigen Bedarf an Förderung und Räumen plant sowie neue Projektraummacher*innen und -initiativen begrüßt. Das Ideal wäre, die richtige Balance zwischen Flexibilität und Autorität zu finden, die Vielfalt, die Ziele und die Bedürfnisse aller zu respektieren und auf die Idee zu verzichten, starre und standardisierte Verhaltensregeln zu diktieren, auch wenn sie demokratisch beschlossen werden.