Frankfurt should! – Professional Conditions or Art as a Hobby?

About this event

Under the heading “Frankfurt should! – Professional Conditions or Art as a Hobby?” Produktionshaus NAXOS brings together representatives of Frankfurt’s independent performing arts scene, city politics, and cultural funding bodies. The discussion tackles a pressing question: in a city where artists often work in unrenovated industrial halls without central heating, public funding has not kept pace. Without sustainable structures, the fear is that professional work drifts into hobbyism, and a generation of practitioners may simply vanish. The panel includes Dr. Ina Hartwig, Frankfurt’s long-standing head of culture, who has shaped the city’s cultural funding strategy through a period of mounting pressure on independent venues; Dr. Susanne Völker, managing director of the regional Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain; Christian Becker (CDU) and Julia Eberz (Green Party), both cultural-policy spokespeople; Dr. Philipp Schulte from the city’s theatre advisory board; Jan Deck from laPROF, the advocacy group for professional independent theatre in Hessen; and Simon Möllendorf from NAXOS itself. The evening is chaired by Dr. Leonie Otto, a theatre and dance scholar, dramaturg, and former jury and advisory board member with deep roots in the independent scene. The audience is encouraged to join the open discussion. The event will be translated into English and is intended for anyone who wants to understand the real state of the city’s independent performing arts – and what needs to change.