Join the Wende Museum, the Thomas Mann House, and dublab radio for the eleventh
program in our monthly program series on art and politics in times of crises. The freedom of
art is one of the imperatives of every democracy. But does this freedom make art
inconsequential? Does art have a role in addressing social issues, promoting social justice, or
in defending democracy when it comes under pressure? In short: does art have a political
mandate?
The Student Council consists of a team of highly engaged, talented, and diverse high school,
undergraduate, and graduate students who invite prominent guest speakers to discuss topics
relating to art, culture, politics, and society. In conversation with visual artists, musicians,
dancers, writers, theater and filmmakers, cultural critics, curators and others, the students
will explore how the arts can make a difference in times of social and political crisis; on what
social issues they can give new impulses; how they can help shape local communities; and
how the alleged freedom and autonomy of the arts might impede or help the arts in terms of
social and political significance.
Please note that the November edition of The Political Mandate of the Arts is an onsite
program at the Wende Museum. The guest speaker is the Wende’s Chief Curator and
Director of Programming since 2014, Joes Segal, who will discuss the politics of curating,
specifically highlighting the new exhibition Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East
and West. Segal is an art historian and historian who has published about Cold War cultural
history, German cultural history, and art and politics since the twentieth century.
