Debates about contributions and positions on present-day wars are often held in (semi-)public spaces at universities and cultural institutions. A differentiated debate that captures the complexity of the conflicts and crises does not always seem possible. This also harms the spaces for discourse that are supported by art, culture and science. It is important to enable a differentiated, multi-layered discourse that tolerates ambiguity, to keep the spaces open for this and to lead this discourse – especially in times like these.
The HGB develops artistic and creative personalities, people who also actively engage with society and politics, who get involved and who do so from very different perspectives. This is part of the public educational mandate that the academy has enshrined in its concept.
One of the central functions of the HGB is to offer students a protected space for artistic and creative development. They should be allowed to experiment freely here, even fail and start again. This means that the HGB has a special responsibility and duty of care towards its students and their development processes. In everyday academy life, this means that the positions and content of student work and activities do not have to be in agreement with those of the academy as an institution, but that different perspectives are permitted and used as an opportunity for dialogue and debate.
So that it is able to maintain and strengthen this open space for discourse, the HGB takes a firm stance against racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination as an essential prerequisite for dialogue, fairness and empathy. Our aim – and we invite all members, affiliates and visitors to the academy to actively support us in this undertaking – is to create and maintain an atmosphere in which everyone feels welcome.
The academy management