Programm english
Dr. Wolfram Weimer (engl.) He has served as Minister of State for Culture and the Media (Staatsminister für Kultur und Medien) since 6 May 2025. The promovierte Historiker, Verleger and Publizist is unaffiliated with any political party and has many years of experience in the media sector. After studying history, German studies, political science and economics and completing his doctorate, he began his journalistic career at the German Press Agency (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa) in Washington and at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He then served as Chefredakteur of WELT (Die Welt), the Berliner Morgenpost, FOCUS (Focus) and the magazine Cicero, which he founded. In 2012, Weimer founded Weimer Media Group, which includes magazines such as The European and Business Punk, as well as a book publishing house.
Sönke Rix, Präsident der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb
Prof. Dr. Markus Hilgert (engl.) He has served as President of the Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der Künste Berlin) since 1 April 2025 and as President of the German Association for Cultural Policy (Präsident der Kulturpolitischen Gesellschaft e.V.) since 8 November 2025 and has been actively involved on a voluntary basis in the fields of culture and academia for many years. His work has consistently focused on sector-specific policy issues. From 2018 to 2025, Hilgert was Secretary-General and member of the Executive Board of the Cultural Foundation of the German States (Kulturstiftung der Länder), and from 2014 to 2018 he was Director of the Ancient Near East Museum (Vorderasiatisches Museum) at the Pergamon Museum (Pergamonmuseum) of the National Museums in Berlin – Prussian Cultural Heritage (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz). From 2007 to 2014, Hilgert taught as Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Heidelberg University (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg). As an Honorary Professor, he currently teaches at Freie Universität Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin), Heidelberg University (Universität Heidelberg), and the University of Marburg (Universität Marburg). From 2009 to 2015, Hilgert served as Chair of the German Oriental Society (Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft) and, from 2013 to 2015, as Chair of the Expert Commission on the “Situation of the ‘Small Disciplines’ in Baden-Württemberg” (Expertenkommission zur »Situation der ‚Kleinen Fächer‘ in Baden-Württemberg«), appointed by Theresia Bauer, Baden-Württemberg’s State Minister for Science, Research and the Arts, at the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg). In 2017, Hilgert was elected founding President of Blue Shield Germany (Blue Shield Deutschland). As Secretary-General of the Cultural Foundation of the German States (Kulturstiftung der Länder), he initiated the Emergency Alliance for Culture (Notfallallianz Kultur) in 2021, a broad-based alliance to strengthen resilience in the cultural sector. Hilgert is committed to cultural policy issues in various bodies at the national and international levels, including the Executive Board of the German Commission for UNESCO (Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission), the Board of Trustees of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung), and the Foundation Board of the ALIPH Foundation (Aliph Foundation). Hilgert’s publications include numerous academic works as well as contributions on current cultural and socio-political issues. These include the volume “Innen – Außen. Perspektiven einer integrierten Kulturpolitik” (2021), co-edited with Ronald Grätz, and the volume “Objektepistemologien. Zur Vermessung eines transdisziplinären Forschungsraums” (2018), published with Henrike Simon and Kerstin P. Hofmann.
Sönke Rix , geboren 1975, absolvierte nach seinem Realschulabschluss von 1994 bis 1996 eine Ausbildung an der Fachschule für Sozialpädagogik. Nach seinem Zivildienst war er von 1997 bis 2005 als anerkannter Erzieher tätig, beziehungsweise als Fachkraft für Berufs- und Arbeitsförderung bei der Diakonie-Hilfswerk Schleswig-Holstein. Von 2000 bis 2024 engagiert er sich außerdem als ehrenamtlicher Betreuer beim Amtsgericht Eckenförde.
Seine politische Karriere begann Sönke Rix im Jahr 1992 mit dem Eintritt in die SPD. Zwischen 1994 bis 2005 war er Ratsherr in Eckernförde. Von 2002 bis 2003 gehörte er dem SPD-Landesvorstand Schleswig-Holstein an und führt von 2002 bis 2019 als Vorsitzender die SPD Rendsburg-Eckernförde. Zudem ist er von 2011 bis 2018 Vorsitzender des SPD-Landesparteirates Schleswig-Holstein. Danach war er Sprecher der SPD-Landesgruppe Schleswig-Holstein und stellvertretender Vorsitzender der SPD Schleswig-Holstein. Seit 2021 ist er Vorsitzender der SPD Eckernförde.
Von 2005 bis 2025 war Sönke Rix Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages. In dieser Zeit hatte er von 2005 bis 2014 die Funktion des Obmanns der SPD-Fraktion im Unterausschuss für Bürgerschaftliches Engagement inne. Hier war er federführend für die SPD-Fraktion für die Förderung der Zivilgesellschaft und des Ehrenamtes zuständig. Er war außerdem Sprecher der Arbeitsgruppe „Strategien gegen Rechtsextremismus“ der SPD-Fraktion. Hier hat er sämtliche parlamentarische Arbeit der Demokratieförderung und politischen Bildung für die SPD-Bundestagsfraktion koordiniert und mitbestimmt.
In der 17. Wahlperiode war Sönke Rix Mitglied im Untersuchungsausschuss „Terrorgruppe NSU“. Dort war er für die SPD-Bundestagsfraktion insbesondere für die Frage zuständig, welche Folgen der fehlerhafte Umgang mit dem NSU für die Förderung der Zivilgesellschaft und der politischen Bildung bei der Arbeit gegen Rechtsextremismus hat.
Während seiner gesamten Zugehörigkeit im Deutschen Bundestag war Sönke Rix für seine Fraktion für die Politik für die nationalen bzw. autochthonen Minderheiten zuständig.
Als frauenpolitischer Sprecher und für Gleichstellungspolitik zuständiger stellvertretender Fraktionsvorsitzender war er Mitglied im Stiftungsrat der Bundesstiftung Gleichstellung.
Zwischen 2014 und 2025 war er außerdem Mitglied im Fraktionsvorstand und von 2021 bis 2025 der stellvertretende Vorsitzende der SPD-Fraktion in den Bereichen Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend, Bildung und Forschung und Kultur und Medien.
Seit März 2026 ist er der Präsident der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Reckwitz (engl.) Prof. Dr. Andreas Reckwitz is Professor of General Sociology and Cultural Sociology at Humboldt University of Berlin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) and one of the defining sociologists of the present day. His work on modernity and late modernity combines social theory, cultural sociology, and diagnoses of the present. His books The Invention of Creativity (Die Erfindung der Kreativität), The Society of Singularities (Die Gesellschaft der Singularitäten), The End of Illusions (Das Ende der Illusionen), and Loss (Verlust) have attracted particular attention. They have been translated into 25 languages and have resonated far beyond sociology. Among other distinctions, he received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Preis der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft) for his research.
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Dr. Liya Yu (engl.) Dr. Liya Yu is a neuropolitical philosopher and political scientist. She is developing a neuroscience-based social contract to address the political challenges facing our liberal democracies. She is the author of Vulnerable Minds: The Neuropolitics of Divided Societies (2022) and Brains Instead of Morality: Why Only Neuropolitics Can Safeguard Social Cohesion (Hirn statt Moral: Warum nur Neuropolitik den gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt sichert, April 2026). Yu grew up in Germany as the child of Chinese immigrants, studied at the University of Cambridge, and earned her doctorate at Columbia University in New York. She has held international teaching appointments in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Philosophie Magazin (Philosophie Magazin) named her neuropolitical theory one of the most important ideas of 2025, and Brand New Bundestag (Brand New Bundestag) nominated her for the Progressive Science Voices Award 2024. At the Berlin University of the Arts (Universität der Künste Berlin), she developed the world’s first course at the intersection of neuropolitics and performance art. Her interviews and contributions on political neuroscience, racism, and dehumanization have appeared in ARD (ARD), ZDF (ZDF), DIE ZEIT (DIE ZEIT), Tagesspiegel (Tagesspiegel), BBC (BBC), New Scientist (New Scientist), and many other outlets.
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Dr. Ina Hartwig (engl.), City councillor for culture and science Frankfurt am Main
Basil Kerski (engl.), President of the House of History Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia (Stiftung Haus der Geschichte Nordrhein-Westfalen)
Dr. Jaroslaw Kuisz, Professor am Institut für Rechtsgeschichte der Fakultät für Rechtswissenschaften und Verwaltung, Universität Warschau
References to the democratic basic consensus and invocations of the normative core of the Basic Law are increasingly being countered by appeals to duties of state neutrality.
While professionals in civic education and memorial-site pedagogy have for many years pointed to the considerable risks involved, this discourse is now increasingly reaching the cultural sphere as well, both in its practical work and in cultural policy and cultural administration.
What does the “principle of neutrality” mean from a legal point of view?
How do the democratic basic consensus and the normative core of the Basic Law relate to references to “state neutrality”?
What is the status of “neutrality as an attitude” in the field of cultural policy and cultural practice?
What does “attitude” mean in this context?
What do employees in cultural administration and cultural institutions, in cultural education and in aesthetic practice, need in order to maintain such an attitude?
Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Hufen (engl.) Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Hufen studied law and political science in Münster, Freiburg, and Princeton (USA). After completing both state law examinations, his doctorate, and his habilitation, he held professorships in public law in Augsburg and Regensburg, where he also taught legal philosophy, and from 1993 in Mainz, where he has been emeritus since 2011. He also held visiting professorships in New Orleans, Cape Town, and Paris. He was a member of the Constitutional Court of Rhineland-Palatinate (Verfassungsgerichtshof Rheinland-Pfalz) from 2008 to 2014. He served as Deputy Chair of the Association of German Constitutional Law Teachers (Vereinigung Deutscher Staatsrechtslehrer) in 2004/2005 and was a member of numerous associations and commissions. His main fields of work are constitutional law, administrative law, cultural law, medical law, and boundary issues between law and ethics. Among his numerous publications, his textbooks on fundamental rights and administrative procedural law deserve particular mention. Prof. Hufen is a recipient of the Order of Merit of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Dr. Ina Hartwig (engl.) Dr. Ina Hartwig, born in Hamburg in 1963, studied Romance languages and literature and German studies in Avignon and Berlin. After many years as literary editor at the Frankfurter Rundschau (Frankfurter Rundschau) from 1997 to 2009 and as editor of Kursbuch (Kursbuch) from 2002 to 2005, she worked as an independent author, critic, and moderator. She held visiting professorships in St. Louis, Göttingen, and Leipzig and wrote, among others, for Die Zeit (Die Zeit) and the Süddeutsche Zeitung (Süddeutsche Zeitung). In 2011, she received the Alfred Kerr Prize for Literary Criticism. Her essay collection Das Geheimfach ist offen. Über Literatur was published by S. Fischer (S. Fischer Verlag) in 2012, followed by Ingeborg Bachmann. Eine Biographie in Bruchstücken in 2017, with an updated new edition in 2026. Together with director Ruth Beckermann, she co-wrote the screenplay for the film Die Geträumten (Die Geträumten, Austria 2016). In the 2015/16 academic year, she was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin). Since July 2016, she has served as the city councillor responsible for culture and science of the City of Frankfurt am Main.
Basil Kerski (engl.) Basil Kerski is a cultural manager, museum director, policy expert, and publicist and, since January 2026, President of the House of History Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia (Stiftung Haus der Geschichte Nordrhein-Westfalen), based in Düsseldorf.
He previously served for 15 years as Director of the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk.
Born in Gdańsk in 1969 into an Iraqi-Polish family, Basil Kerski spent his childhood and youth in Iraq, in the Polish People’s Republic, and in West Berlin.
He studied political science and Slavic studies at Freie Universität Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin).
He worked as a research associate at Aspen Institute Berlin (Aspen Institute Berlin), at the research institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik), and in the German Bundestag (Deutscher Bundestag).
Basil Kerski is the former editor-in-chief of the bilingual German-Polish magazine DIALOG (Deutsch-Polnisches Magazin DIALOG), as well as an author, editor, and political commentator in European media.
For his European engagement, he has received numerous honors, including the French Legion of Honour, the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Polish Gold Cross of Merit.
Dr. Jaroslaw Kuisz
Prof. Dr. Beate Küpper (engl.), Social psychologist and Professor of Social Work in Groups and Conflict Situations Hochschule Niederrhein, Deputy Head of the affiliated institute SO.CON – Social Concepts
Kirsten Haß (engl.), Executive Board, Kulturstiftung des Bundes
Lluís Bonet (engl.), Director of the Cultural Management programme, University of Barcelona
What priorities and structures currently underpin cultural funding?
What are the broader societal effects of tightening financial leeway, especially given that culture, as a “pre-political space,” is particularly affected by “culture wars”?
Is there a need for alternative funding structures?
Or is what is needed above all a better use of existing resources and a strengthening of the cultural sector as a whole, as a central arena in which attacks on liberal, pluralist democracy are being fought out?
How can cultural institutions be more strongly perceived and supported as places of negotiation and deliberation, and thus help counteract (perceived) polarization?
Peter Laudenbach (engl.) Peter Laudenbach reports from Berlin for the Süddeutsche Zeitung on theatre and cultural policy, and he has spent years researching right-wing culture wars.
In addition to interview books with Alexander Kluge and Frank Castorf and a book on the sociology of organization co-authored with two management consultants, he published the book Popular Theatre: The Right-Wing Attack on Artistic Freedom in 2023 with Verlag Klaus Wagenbach (Verlag Klaus Wagenbach).
Prof. Dr. Beate Küpper (engl.) Prof. Dr. Beate Küpper, born in 1968 and raised in Essen, studied at Philipps University Marburg (Philipps-Universität Marburg) and earned her doctorate at Ruhr University Bochum (Ruhr-Universität Bochum).
She is a social psychologist and Professor of Social Work in Groups and Conflict Situations at Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Niederrhein) in Mönchengladbach, as well as Deputy Head of the affiliated institute SO.CON – Social Concepts (SO.CON – Social Concepts).
She is currently also involved in establishing the new Conflict Academy at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (Institut für interdisziplinäre Konflikt- und Gewaltforschung) at Bielefeld University (Universität Bielefeld).
Her areas of work include diversity, integration, group-focused enmity, right-wing populism, and right-wing extremism, especially at the intersection of research and practice and in relation to civic education.
Since 2014, she has been a co-author of the “Mitte Study” (“Mitte-Studie”) on right-wing extremist and democracy-endangering attitudes in Germany, conducted on behalf of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung).
Kirsten Haß (engl.) Kirsten Haß studied German studies and communication studies in Berlin.
After several years as Head of PR in the book trade, she served until 2006 as Managing Director of the Lower Saxony Association of Independent Theatres (Landesverband Freier Theater Niedersachsen), spokesperson for the Independent Cultural Associations of Lower Saxony (Freie Kulturverbände Niedersachsen), and Chair of the Federal Association of Independent Performing Arts (Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste).
Evaluation in the cultural sector was already a focus of her lectures and seminars during this period.
In 2007, she joined the German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes), initially as Head of General Project Funding, and from 2011 onward she headed the foundation’s Funding and Programmes Division.
In 2020, Kirsten Haß moved into the position of Administrative Director and, together with Katarzyna Wielga-Skolimowska, forms the Executive Board of the German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes).
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Lluís Bonet (engl.) Director of the Cultural Management Program and Professor of Economics at the University of Barcelona. Expert in cultural economics, cultural management and cultural policies. Honoured with the ENCATC Award Laureate for Outstanding Contribution (2023) and the Catalan Audiovisual Council Research Award (2002). He has been a visiting researcher in different universities and guest lecturer in more than fifty countries. He has served on the boards of many cultural and academic institutions, and on juries and editorial boards of academic journals. He has participated in numerous international projects funded by the Horizon Europe, Creative Europe, Erasmus+ or Research Council of Norway programs. Publications connected to the congress theme are: La politique culturelle de Vox en Espagne : du laboratoire institutionnel à la dispute stratégique (2026), Direct government contribution to culture: legitimacy, financial mechanisms and level of spending compared internationally (2025), Cultural policies in illiberal democracies: a conceptual framework based on the Polish and Hungarian government experiences (2020).
Natascha Strobl, Politikwissenschaftlerin, Expertin für Rechtsextremismus und die Neue Rechte
Annemie Vanackere (engl.), Artistic Director and Managing Director of HAU Hebbel am Ufer
Dr. Pavla Hivert (engl.), Assistant Professor, Prague University of Economics and Business
Networks consist of a series of interconnected nodes and links.
They are central systems in nature and technology as well as in social life.
Can we learn from biological systems for social systems?
What role do forms of cooperation play in nature and in society?
How viable is the concept of “survival of the nettest” from nature for current challenges?
Can cultural policy, cultural and civic education, as well as aesthetic practice, help test and establish mechanisms that enable us to deal with negative emotions and thus develop “key competencies” that allow us to cope with the pervasive experience of loss?
If what matters most here is no longer being naive — that is, expecting possible losses, building resilience, and fostering tolerance for ambiguity — is that already enough to respond successfully to authoritarian attacks?
Which networks need to be built for this, and how?
Gilda Sahebi (engl.) Gilda Sahebi is a trained physician and political scientist.
She completed her journalism traineeship at Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bayerischer Rundfunk) and works as a freelance journalist focusing on domestic and foreign policy, authoritarian systems, and polarization.
She writes for taz (taz) and Der Spiegel (Der Spiegel) and also works for ARD (ARD).
Her books Unser Schwert ist Liebe, Die feministische Revolte im Iran, and Wie wir uns Rassismus beibringen. Eine Analyse deutscher Debatten were published by S. Fischer (S. Fischer Verlag) in 2023 and 2024.
Her current book Verbinden statt spalten. Eine Antwort auf die Politik der Polarisierung was published in September 2025.
Gilda Sahebi lives in Berlin.
Natascha Strobl
Annemie Vanackere (engl.) Annemie Vanackere studied philosophy in Leuven and Paris, as well as theatre and film studies for one year in Leuven.
She worked as a production manager, among others for STUC (STUC) and the KLAPSTUK Festival (Festival KLAPSTUK), and in 1993 took over the artistic direction of Nieuwpoorttheater (Nieuwpoorttheater) in Ghent.
From 1995 to 2011, Annemie Vanackere worked at Rotterdamse Schouwburg (Rotterdamse Schouwburg), from 2001 onward as Co-Artistic Director and as head of Productiehuis Rotterdam (Productiehuis Rotterdam), which was affiliated with the theatre.
Until 2011, she was also Artistic Director of “De Internationale Keuze van de Rotterdamse Schouwburg” (“De Internationale Keuze van de Rotterdamse Schouwburg”), the annual international theatre, dance, and performance festival in Rotterdam that she co-founded in 2001.
Since September 2012, Annemie Vanackere has served as Artistic Director and Managing Director of HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU Hebbel am Ufer) in Berlin, which she reopened with her team on 1 November 2012.
With its three venues HAU1 (HAU1), HAU2 (HAU2), and HAU3 (HAU3), as well as the digital stage HAU4 (HAU4), HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU Hebbel am Ufer) stands for contemporary artistic positions at the intersection of theatre, dance, performance, music, visual arts, and discursive formats.
It is also the organizer of the international festival Tanz im August (Tanz im August).
Dr. Pavla Hivert (engl.) is an assistant professor in the Department of Arts Management at the Faculty of Business Administration, Prague University of Economics and Business, where she engages in academic teaching and research. Her research expertise encompasses cultural management, cultural policy, and emerging business models in creative industries.
Dr. Hivert maintains an active presence in cultural practice alongside her academic work. With extensive experience as a cultural manager in institutions and projects, she served as Director of the Arts and Theatre Institute and General Director of the Prague Quadrennial, from 2008 to 2025. In November 2025, she was appointed Bursar (Financial and Administrative Director) of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague AVU.
She participates in different expert bodies and networks, including her role as a member of the Culture Section of the Czech UNESCO Commission.