Free Academy of Arts in Leipzig

The Free Academy of the Arts in Leipzig is a society of artists and humanities scholars based in Leipzig who, according to its statutes, think "arguably and tolerantly about the existence of the arts in our time". About their tasks it says: "Together with partners from business and art from West and East Germany, networks are formed that open up new ways of promoting art" (from the program for the Italo Svevo Prize ).

history

As a result of the democratic upheaval in East Germany, which received significant impulses from Leipzig, artists, art theorists and philosophers founded the Free Academy of the Arts in Leipzig on June 17, 1992. It was the intention of the founders to combine the “new approach to social development” with the search for new artistic expression and working methods and at the same time to create a new model for the work of cultural institutions with the academy. The academy is placed in a historical context of awakening and contradiction, to which the founding date symbolically refers ( uprising of June 17th ). In their statutes it says: Affected by the experiences of history, the members remember “the human and artistic values that arose in the conflict with power structures and call for them to be effective for the present and the future. Committed to the idea of a Europe without borders, the members of the academy want to contribute to eliminating the isolation of the arts and artists. "

The Free Academy of the Arts in Hamburg , founded by Hans Henny Jahnn , can serve as a model . In contrast to the Saxon Academy of the Arts , the Free Academy of the Arts in Leipzig is not a state institution. Like the Free Academy in Hamburg, the Free Academy in Leipzig is an association under civil law. Founding members were u. a. Thomas Böhme , Heinz Czechowski , Hartwig Ebersbach , Burkhard Glaetzner , Werner Heiduczek , Wulf Kirsten , Peter Konwitschny , Wolfgang Krause Zwieback , Michael Morgner , Klaus Ramm , Arila Siegert , Steffen Schleiermacher , Frank Schneider , Uwe Scholz , Jürgen Teller , Guntram Vesper and Udo Carpenter . The first president was Prof. Udo Zimmermann, director of the Leipzig Opera until 2001 ; Ingrid Sonntag was the secretary of the academy from 1992 to 2003.

The work of the academy is not structured in classes or sections, but project-related and cross-genre. Important projects of the academy were the speech series “Kulturort Mitte Europa” (initiated by Ingrid Sonntag), an exhibition with works by the painter, set designer and director Achim Freyer in Leipzig and Dresden (1998) as well as the exhibitions curated by the photographer Evelyn Richter “Revolution mit Candles ”(1999) and“ Hidden Biographies ”(2000). The academy earned lasting merit in safeguarding Evelyn Richter's work. The foundations for a personal exhibition by Evelyn Richter in the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig were laid in 2005 as part of the association of the Academy, the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony and DZ Bank . With 226 events and around 21,000 visitors since it was founded (Leipziger Volkszeitung from June 24, 2002), the academy has developed into an important center of cultural life that has an impact far beyond the city of Leipzig. Financed by the cultural office of the city of Leipzig, by project funds from the cultural foundation of Saxony and by donations, the academy got into a crisis after the withdrawal of the cultural foundation of Saxony and the city of Leipzig in 2003, which led to the closure of the office and the temporary cessation of work. Since 2004 the academy has only continued its work to a limited extent.

The academy was located in the Haus des Buches (gerichtsweg 28) in Leipzig, then in the German Literature Institute (Wächterstrasse 34).

A part of the archive of the Free Academy of the Arts was handed over to the Saxon State Archives, State Archives Leipzig in 2011 .

Bureau and President

The Academy's Presidium consists of the President and two Vice-Presidents, who are elected by secret ballot by the General Assembly.

Previous presidents were:

1992–1997 Udo Zimmermann
1997–1998 Peter Konwitschny
1998–1999 Hartwig Ebersbach
1999-2004 Helmut Brade
since 2004 Michael Lentz

Vice-presidents were the composer Wolfgang Heisig and the musician Erwin Stache .

Members

The academy has full members, honorary members and supporting members. It has 77 full and two supporting members (as of 2005)

Each member is entitled to propose new members for election, which is to be supported by two members. New members are elected by the general assembly with a simple majority in a secret ballot. Self-applications are excluded.

Honorary members are appointed by the President after they have been elected as full members by the General Assembly.

Supporting members are proposed by the Executive Committee of the Academy to the General Assembly for confirmation.

Prices

The Free Academy of the Arts in Leipzig awarded the Italo-Svevo Prize from 2001 to 2004, in cooperation with Blue Capital GmbH Hamburg . The prize, endowed with 15,000 euros, was presented annually at the Leipzig Book Fair. "The work of a German-speaking author who is distinguished by at least three independent book publications in the field of prose in all its varieties is honored and sponsored."

The management of Blue Capital GmbH appoints a spokesman on its own responsibility, who appoints the board of trustees of the Italo Svevo Prize, which includes five representatives of literary and social life. The spokesman for the board of trustees, which was initially set up for five years, is the writer Wolfgang Hegewald . The board of trustees elects the winner. The Free Academy accompanies the award ceremony and is responsible for the supporting program. Prizes and material on Italo-Svevo are published in collaboration with the “edition die horen” in the “Cràzzola” series.

Since 2005, the prize has no longer been awarded with the Free Academy of the Arts in Leipzig, but in cooperation with the Literaturhaus Hamburg.

Prize winners were:

literature

Press and publications on the academy

Counterfoundation. Free Academy of Arts in Leipzig . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung March 25, 1992.
War of the academies? Saxony: Two academies of the arts were founded in the Free State . Young World June 20th 1992.
It's done. Free Academy of the Arts founded in Leipzig . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung June 20, 1992.
Arguable and tolerant thinking about art. The establishment of a new academy in Leipzig . Frankfurter Rundschau June 23, 1992.
Questions about meaning and competence. The painter Hartwig Ebersbach on the impending end of the Free Academy of the Arts in Leipzig . Leipziger Volkszeitung September 5, 1999.
On the way to a new era. The Free Academy of Arts in Leipzig celebrates its 10th birthday. In conversation with President Helmut Brade . Leipziger Volkszeitung 15./16. June 2002.
Ten years of academy. Thoughtful interruptions to everyday life. It's been years for doers . Leipziger Volkszeitung June 17, 2002.
Ingrid Sonntag: The Free Academy of Arts in Leipzig 1992-2003. Was it just a result of the Saxon cultural area? . Germany Archive 2/2011

Publications of the Academy

Free Academy of Arts in Leipzig . Editing: Ingrid Czechowski with Thomas Böhme and Hartwig Ebersbach. Leipzig 1993. ISBN 3-929294-08-7 .
I think of Germany. I think of Europe. Reflections on the future . Edited by Ingrid Czechowski (Ingrid Sonntag). Leipzig 1995. ISBN 3-379-01527-X .
Outsmart the ephemeral. Self-questioning of German authors . Edited by Ingrid Czechowski (Ingrid Sonntag). Leipzig 1996. ISBN 3-379-01563-6 .
Three miles to the start. Talk about the future . Published by Ingrid Sonntag. Leipzig 1998. ISBN 3-379-01633-0 .
Achim Freyer: Individuals. Pictures and Sculptures . Leipzig 1998.
CRAZZOLA 1,2,3,4. Price speeches u. Funds (series of publications on the Italo Svevo Prize 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) 4 vol. Published by the Free Academy of Arts in Leipzig on behalf of Blue Capital, editor: Ingrid Sonntag. Vol. 1: ISBN 3-89701-730-X ; Vol. 2: ISBN 3-89701-880-2 ; Vol. 3: ISBN 3-86509-017-6 .