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LOVE LETTER TO THE INDEPENDENT SCENE

Liebe Akteur*innen der Freien Szene NRW,

your’re not dancing on your own.

For the second and last time, we, the current FAVORITEN team, were able to visit countless works from the independent art scene throughout North Rhine-Westphalia and participate in current discourses and issues of artistic production. It became clear to us that making art has not become any easier in recent years. The rhythms of production have been turned upside down, our economic situation has changed, and many feel that they are struggling like a mouse in a pot of cream, without enough resonance or social recognition. With the loss of Neustart Kultur funding, higher fee floors (without a corresponding increase in budgets) and the threat of cuts in 2025, the current situation is also disillusioning, precarious and even threatening for many. In order to preserve the work of the independent performing arts community, its diversity and its critical perspective, stable and continuous funding is essential, and we would like to appeal to those responsible for cultural policy to align their funding policies accordingly.

We have had the privilege of accompanying you over the past few years, of observing how you act (together) in all our encounters, and we are delighted: the independent scene in North Rhine-Westphalia is working in a variety of ways on collective creation, performing genre balancing acts, adopting attitudes of solidarity, practising the sharing of resources and seeking connections. It tries out aesthetics of access, insistently points out challenging themes, fights for free space in the mind and for the exploration of art forms that it considers individually and socially relevant and that it enjoys. We have seen you share that joy when you are on stage, performing and using your own voice in an empowering way. We have seen that you are not discouraged, but stand up for what you believe in.

As the independent scene in NRW is characterised by a special spirit of research, a critical eye and a great willingness to experiment with form, we have once again come across a large number of exciting artistic works for the FAVORITEN Festival 2024 that are linked to the festival motto (Un)Learning for possible futures.

However, the FAVORITEN festival, like most of the players in the scene – many independent festivals in NRW, as well as individual artists and collectives – is also affected by the cuts in funding, although the impact on a festival structure is different from that on artists. In concrete terms, this means that we have significantly less money available for the NRW Showcase programme, and consequently fewer stage productions from NRW’s independent scene can be seen at the festival than in the last edition. We are aware that the festival’s Showcase is an important platform for making NRW’s independent scene visible. Unfortunately, the loss of important funding at a late stage in the planning process has made it impossible to allocate further funds to the Showcase and give it a broader base.

Yet we were able to finance and implement several specific programme lines through additional funding, such as the international residency programme (UN)LEARNING DISTANCES, the discursive format (UN)LEARNING THEATRE & CRISIS and the programme focus OST-WEST / WEST-OST WERKSTATT. It is important to us to present the polyphony of the scene with its diverse protagonists in the festival. Their thoughts, positions and desires will find their way into communicative, artistic and discursive formats within these programme lines. We want the festival to be an inviting space for the exchange of ideas.

In this precarious situation for all those involved in the independent scene, it is particularly clear how important networking and collegiality are in order to stand up together for our concerns and not to lose the courage, the attitude of solidarity and the fight for freedom in our minds and on stage. The MIX&MATCH / SHARE&CARE collegial speed dating event will therefore take place as part of the festival in order to exchange ideas on how we can all deal with the current situation and upcoming challenges. Together with the NRW Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste, we would like to cordially invite you to the Depot on 12th September from 16:00.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Cultural Office of the City of Dortmund and the NRW Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste, the organisers of the FAVORITEN festival, for their support.

Last but not least, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the festival’s cooperation partners and collaborators. But especially to you: the people of the independent scene. Thank you for allowing us to accompany you for two festival editions. Your art and aesthetics, your passion and your work have once again impressed us and left a lasting impression. Your commitment inspires us and drives us on.

We are looking forward to the festival with great anticipation and hope that it will be a place of exchange and shared visions for the future. We cordially invite you to come to the FAVORITEN Festival 2024 in Dortmund from 5th – 15th September!

Anne Mahlow, Margo Zālīte, Sina-Marie Schneller
Künstlerische Leitung FAVORITEN 2022-24