BSW on culture and media

The BSW wants to fundamentally rework Saxony's Kulturraumgesetz (cultural regions law) to secure lasting funding for theaters, orchestras and other cultural institutions. The party warns of insolvencies because the cultural regions can no longer carry the funding alone. Sociocultural centers are also to be protected.

In Saxony, the cultural regions law sets how culture is paid for. The BSW wants to change this law a lot. Theaters and orchestras should get secure funding. So should museums, libraries and cultural centers. The party warns that venues could go bankrupt otherwise.

Funding is to be effective, lasting and indexed, meaning it grows with costs. For sociocultural centers the law is to include stabilizing mechanisms, and the BSW wants to push for a change of thinking in the regional culture councils. For museums, galleries, libraries, memorial sites and cinemas, a plan to secure their existence is to make them independent of funding gaps in the cultural regions. A state institute is planned to preserve regionally important art forms and Saxon crafts. Cooperation between private and public partners is to be expanded.

The BSW wants freelance artists to be able to earn a living income. Regular public commissions and simple funding programs are meant to help. Cultural funding should not be tied to political declarations.

The BSW wants to give more support to independent artists. They should be able to live from their work. The state should give them regular commissions. Funding should be easy to apply for. Nobody should have to make a political statement to get funding.

The measures are also meant to allow for adequate pension and benefit entitlements. Demands to repay COVID aid are to be dropped when they threaten a person's livelihood. Project funding by the state and municipalities is to be free of discrimination. The program rejects requiring funding recipients to commit to political declarations.

The BSW wants to give children and young people early access to all the arts. State and municipal museums are to be free of charge up to age 18. In rural areas, travel to theaters, concerts and museums is to be paid for.

The BSW wants more culture for children and young people. Museum entry should be free up to age 18. Children in rural areas should get their trip to the theater paid. The same goes for trips to concerts and museums. Theaters and museums should work with schools.

Theaters, orchestras and museums are to be funded so that they can stay in ongoing contact with every school in their area. Educational programs in theater, music and museums, statewide competitions, workshops and encounters with artists are to be expanded. Covering transport costs is meant to end the disadvantage of rural regions. Social media are to be used in a more targeted way to interest children, young people and parents in culture.

The BSW rejects raising the public broadcasting fee and wants the state parliament to set up a commission of inquiry on public broadcasters. It would examine whether their reporting is objective and independent of the government. The platform points to declining trust in these media.

The BSW does not want a higher broadcasting fee. The state parliament should set up a commission. It should check the reporting of public broadcasters. The BSW thinks some reporting is one-sided.

The commission of inquiry would examine the reporting and commentary of public broadcasters active in Saxony. It would also identify ways to strengthen political pluralism, dialogue between journalists and audiences, and citizen media. The platform cites accusations of one-sided reporting since the COVID-19 pandemic and on the war in Ukraine. According to the Sachsen-Monitor survey, only 51 percent of Saxons still trust public media.

The BSW wants to give the Sorbian people extensive self-determination in culture and education. It justifies this with the threat to the Sorbian language and culture, which UNESCO has also noted.

The Sorbs are a minority group in Saxony. Their language is at risk. The BSW wants the Sorbs to decide on culture and education themselves. The BSW also wants to support Sorbian associations.

The platform calls the consideration of Sorbian interests a living tradition in Saxony. The autonomy is meant to include a high degree of self-responsibility. The BSW also supports volunteer work in Sorbian clubs and associations.

The BSW wants high-quality cultural offerings to take place outside the big urban centers too. The Kulturräume, Saxony's regional associations for funding culture, are to receive additional money for this.

There should be good culture in the countryside too. Fewer visitors come there. So the Kulturräume should get more money. Kulturräume are associations that pay for culture in Saxony.

According to the program, everyone should have access to social and cultural offerings regardless of where they live. The Kulturräume are to make up for the lower visitor numbers in rural areas. The BSW also supports Chemnitz as European Capital of Culture 2025, which is to showcase the region's industrial and craft heritage.