Now available: Journal der Künste 19

The many stress tests to which democracy is currently exposed are expressed in different articles of the new Journal der Künste: In an interview with Kathrin Röggla, Oliver Sturm and Andres Veiel analyze the ongoing crisis of public broadcasting, which has recently gained new momentum. They explore the prerequisites for preserving the role of public media as an instrument of democracy. Angela Lammert and Kolja Reichert deal with similar questions, highlighting the important role of (art) critique for the democratic public sphere and focusing on its redefinition in view of dissolved boundaries between professional criticism and the public as well as under changed media conditions. Jochen Gerz's Carte Blanche is also dedicated to the relationship between art and critique. Launching the "AI Anarchies" program of the JUNGE AKADEMIE, Clara Herrmann refers to the ethical and political challenges of artificial intelligence: when self-learning AI programs can misuse data, disregard the rights of minorities, manipulate public opinion and influence elections - what "unpredictable" alternatives can artistic practices point to? Aleš Šteger asks what fundamental consequences political radicalization in Europe has for artistic freedom and how the instrumentalization of fears leads to destabilization. Maria José Crespo, one of the fellows of the digital residency program of the European Alliance of Academies, explores the border zone between Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, USA in excerpts of her video essay.

The photos of empty display cases and prints of detached paintings by Yurii Stefanyak from the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv show the acute threat to art and cultural assets in Ukraine. The loss of cultural assets is also a theme of the exhibition currently running at Pariser Platz, "Spurensicherung. Provenance Research," which shows selected exhibits from the archives and collections of the Akademie der Künste from the perspective of provenance research. Werner Heegewaldt introduces the different areas of investigation, showing that provenance research enables a new and different view of old familiar works and brings buried histories into consciousness. Other contributions to the Journal explore the archive of writer Natascha Wodin and early drawings and utopian architectural designs by Hans Scharoun.

Nan Goldin's photographs of her drag queen friends in 1990s New York provide a taste of the exhibition by this year's Käthe Kollwitz Prize winner, which opens at Hanseatenweg in January.

You can find the digital version of the 19th issue here.

The Journal der Künste is available in German and English and is free of charge. If you wish to receive the print version of a single issue or if you are interested in a subscription, please send an email to info@adk.de or use the order form.