Respecting artistic freedom // Guaranteeing the independence of juries

Resolution of the German Cultural Council //
Berlin, 17 March 2026.

Following the incidents at the Berlinale and the German Bookstore Award, the German Cultural Council calls on Minister of State for Culture Weimer to respect artistic freedom and guarantee the independence of juries.

Respecting artistic freedom

Artistic freedom is guaranteed in Article 5(3) of the German Basic Law without any legislative restrictions. What constitutes art is determined by the discourse within the art world itself. This principle must be safeguarded without reservation. Tolerating artistic freedom is indispensable for a free society – even if, and precisely because, art can be controversial and unsettling, and works of art can provoke displeasure.

Those in charge of public cultural institutions are called upon to safeguard the space for art to flourish and to open up spaces for discourse in the spirit of a vibrant and pluralistic democracy. Naturally, recipients of funding must operate within the framework of the Basic Law, i.e. respect human dignity (Article 1(1) of the Basic Law) and comply with general laws. This applies to all those applying for public funding or awards.

However, the German Cultural Council is firmly opposed to routine checks by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the context of public cultural funding, as this constitutes an expression of general suspicion. Likewise, the German Cultural Council rejects any compulsion for those responsible for culture to declare their political affiliations.

Guaranteeing the independence of juries

The selection of prize-winners, awardees and other funding decisions in the cultural sector, carried out independently of the state, is a prerequisite for artistic freedom. Juries make their selections on the basis of professional, substantive and aesthetic principles. Jury members are firmly rooted in their respective art scenes and are familiar with the discourses in the contemporary arts and in their respective sectors. For the state to question jury decisions weakens the juries and undermines their independence from the state.

The German Cultural Council emphasises that juries must make their decisions independently of state directives, based on purely artistic criteria and content-related criteria specific to the subject matter in question. Juries can be expected to make the criteria underlying their decisions transparently accessible.

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