This spring our friends from the German Turkish Institute had an event at the Kunsthalle in celebration of our constitution. The author, journalist, former judge and prosecutor Heribert Prantl held a speech in which he emphatically conjured the defensive democracy, wehrhafte Demokratie im Deutschen. And he insisted we have to fight the enemies of democracy.
That was months before the latest state elections, before the European, French and now US elections.
So here we are. Certainties seem to vanish before our eyes. Once I am outside my very close bubble of friends, reality strikes. I just have to watch my children play soccer. Other parents, mostly fathers, come and talk, share opinions, first about soccer and children, then about society and politics. And every now and then, I can sense a certain kind of homophobia, of antisemitism, of misogyny. Of distrust towards our political system.
Usually, I hold my position. More or less firm. Yet, every now and then, I am off guard or just fed up.
And right now I feel the urgency I can’t be off guard anymore. I can’t excuse myself by saying I am tired and fed up. I have to stand up each and every time. I have to be more active in defending our democracy.
Jobwise, I am trying to defend democracy by creating a space for exchange and discussion. By setting a standard. In curating an international festival with films that do not only inspire, but also do have a human breath - and some fighting spirit. But - again - right now, I feel the urgency to do more. I cannot just let the art and artists talk.
We - the cultural institutions - as well as the religious institutions - need to defend our democracy, our common values as democrats and human beings.
I hope we’ll find a way to do so.