On the occasion of the public discussion about the decision of the Rectorate of the Düsseldorf Art Academy to allow a student event with the artist Basma al-Sharif about her film art within the university, the President of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), Prof. Dr Walter Rosenthal, on behalf of the HRK Executive Board on 17 March 2026 in Berlin:
"German universities see themselves as places of open discussion and dialogue. Following on from the HRK resolution Safeguarding universities as a free space for discourse, I would like to remind you that universities fulfil their responsibility, within the framework of the constitutionally protected freedom of art and science, research and teaching, to provide a space for academic discourse comprehensively and wherever possible. Each university, represented by its management, has the right to decide for itself on the forms of academic discourse within the framework of the law. The HRK Executive Board expects politics and society to show the necessary respect and support to those people at universities who are committed to fulfilling their responsibility to uphold academic and artistic freedom, even under difficult conditions. This must apply regardless of whether academic or artistic contributions to the discourse reflect their own stance. Specifically, the decision for or against the admission of an academic event must not be made the subject of disciplinary or personnel law considerations in a prejudicial manner. Events such as those at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf must not lead to a political reflex to question the autonomy of universities enshrined in the constitution."
To the HRK press release