[spectre] tesla-berlin threatened with closure

[Andreas Broeckmann]

dear friends,

berlin's media>arts<lab TESLA is facing closure 
by the end of this year. the spaces in the 
podewils'sches palais and the complete funding 
are being withdrawn after three years of 
pioneering work.

the immediate reason for this is that the local 
government that funds tesla needs the money for 
something else ('cultural education', fostering 
the appreciation of art by young people, e.g. by 
bringing artists into schools, building 
partnerships between art institutions and 
schools, etc.). moreover, they were supposedly 
not happy about the relatively low number of 
paying visitors at tesla. they completely 
disregarded the fact that we had many non-paying 
visitors, and ignored the singular role that 
tesla has as a laboratory and production place 
for artists working with different media and 
technologies.

if you would like to comment on this to our state 
secretary for culture, andre schmitz, who is 
politically responsible for this decision, it 
would be much appreciated. please, cc us.

regards,
-a



t e s l a
media > art < laboratory

call to action

in light of the current threat to t e s l a 's 
existence, we call upon artists, audience, and 
colleagues, to communicate to the state of berlin 
what the city risks to lose with this decision. 
learn more about the current situation at 
http://www.tesla-berlin.de , write a letter or an 
e-mail to mr andre schmitz, the state secretary 
for cultural affairs, and please remember to send 
a copy to t e s l a , as well, for our 
documentation. you will find the necessary 
addresses at the end of this mail.

rather than generic protest letters, we 
particularly encourage qualified statements on 
the meaning and importance of media art, on the 
need for venues for artistic production, 
presentation, and reflection, on support for 
media art in berlin, and on t e s l a 's role in 
both a local and international context. in the 
coming months, we will increase our efforts to 
attain support from the state of berlin for this 
branch of the arts, and we hope that this action 
will make it clear that a real need and a broad 
interest exists.

we thank you for your support. we hope that this 
campaign will reach those responsible for 
cultural politics and demonstrate to them the 
vital need for a competent center for art and 
media in berlin. please forward this call trough 
your mailing list. please address any questions 
to moritz von rappard (pr and press) at 030. 247 
49 788 or public at tesla-berlin.de.

andreas broeckmann, detlev schneider, carsten seiffarth



Herrn Staatssekretär André Schmitz
beim Regierenden Bürgermeister von Berlin
Senatskanzlei - Kulturelle Angelegenheiten
Brunnenstraße 188 - 190
D - 10119 Berlin
andre.schmitz at senwfk.verwalt-berlin.de



t e s l a
media > art < laboratory
podewils'sches palais
klosterstraße 68
d - 10179 berlin
public at tesla-berlin.de