After pro-Palestinian protests, the reading of a comprehensive analysis of totalitarian structures by the journalist Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was canceled on Sunday in the Berlin Museum for Contemporary Art Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Aktuell.
According to the two museum directors Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, the 100-hour performance “Where Your Ideas Become Civic Actions (100 Hours Reading “The Origins of Totalitarianism”)” by the Cuban artist Tania Brugueras was disrupted twice on Saturday by a group of political activists .
Hate speech at lecture
Initially, hate speeches were held in the afternoon. In the second incident in the evening, around 20 people reportedly returned and insulted one of the readers and one of the museum directors with violent hateful tirades. Under these circumstances, the open dialogue that was intended with this performance was no longer possible, the directors said. On Sunday morning, the artist decided to end the performance to defend herself against hate speech and all forms of violence.
“We respect and fully support the artist’s decision and categorically reject any form of hate speech and violence,” said Bardaouil and Fellrath on their Instagram channels. The step was necessary to protect the safety of the participants in the performance.
Roth: “No place for hatred and agitation”
Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth condemned the attack. “Hate, anti-Semitism, racism and such forms of violence are absolutely unacceptable and have no place in art or anywhere else,” said the Green politician in a reaction. “This evil anti-Semitism and racism was obviously directed directly against a Jewish cultural worker, the Cuban artist and a manager of the Hamburg train station.” Roth welcomed constitutional consequences for the authors. According to police, a report had previously been received on Sunday.
Parzinger: “Museums are open places of tolerance”
Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which is responsible for the museums, said it was “unbearable the anti-Semitic provocations, racist insults and personal attacks” that had occurred. “The scale is outrageous.” He spoke of a “demonstration of pure hatred.” At the same time, Parzinger emphasized: “We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated. Museums are open places of tolerance and oppose any form of hatred, racism and anti-Semitism.”
Arendt analyzed the development of National Socialism
Bruguera had to realize the performance at home under arrest in 2015. With the performance in Berlin she wanted to “show the power of art and activism.”
Arendt, a Jew, had to emigrate from Nazi Germany herself in 1933. She wrote her analysis of the origins and development of National Socialism shortly after the end of World War II and the liberation of Germany. A few years later she supplemented the work with the peculiarities of Stalinism.
