The Stiftung Kunstfonds is Germany’s most important grant-making foundation for the promotion of the visual arts. It is financed by funds from the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Cultural Council Foundation of VG Bild-Kunst. The Stiftung Kunstfonds makes a significant contribution to strengthening art by supporting innovative, “bulky” positions in ambitious exhibitions and projects of high artistic quality in the shadow of the event business.
Based on the experience of pandemic-related funding under the NEUSTART KULTUR program, the 2021 coalition agreement stipulated that the independent arts and culture scene should continue to receive substantial support from the federal government. The agreed objectives were stable regular funding and new funding modules for the independent arts and culture sector.
According to the draft federal budget for 2025, however, the federal cultural funds are now only to receive around half of the 2024 budget. This is despite the fact that the budget of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media is not affected by cuts and is even being increased slightly.
If the budget for the funds in 2025 is actually reduced in this way, this will mean a significant deterioration in the funding landscape at federal level in the field of art. Dagmar Schmidt, Federal Chairwoman and spokesperson for the BBK: “The cuts to the federal cultural funds will have a negative impact on the diversity of the visual arts in Germany. The implementation of fair fees in the independent art and culture scene will also be significantly impaired by this decision.”
The BBK Bundesverband supports the position of the Federal Cultural Funds and vehemently demands that the budget of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media be corrected in favor of the funds.