Review of 2021 – an almost normal summer of culture – Munich district

When a person longs for something for a very long time, it is sometimes almost like a shock when it happens a little earlier than expected. Many an event organizer or theater manager was a little perplexed in May of this year when, after months of cultural lockdown, the unloved but familiar waiting and limbo condition was unexpectedly disrupted: All of a sudden, following the announcement of the Bavarian state government, face-to-face performances should be possible again. “We’re in a coma and they wake us up,” commented Hannah Stegmayer, manager of the Pullach community center, with a wink. She was then one of those who realized events before the summer break. At that time, a prerequisite for opening was a stable incidence in the district (five days in a row) below 100. Even better: If the value is stable below 50, test procedures and vaccination records should be omitted.

Sounds like from another time? Oh well. Not only did a number of mutants cross the country in 2020 and 21, time itself also seems to have had a different pace for two years. Has more happened than usual in the shadow of the pandemic? Or less? Was 2021 a step forward compared to 2020? Did Astra Zeneca ever exist? What would the world spirit say about the state of the world?

The hunger for aesthetic experiences remains high

In their best moments, art and culture let us share in the world spirit. Sublimate everyday life, tear a swath into normality and bring a higher reality to light: a beautiful cadence, the dissolution of which opens the gates to transcendence, a witty bon mot that breaks the world dungeon, a painting that captivates the viewer. This year you could listen to the star violinist Julia Fischer at a concert in Grünwald, follow the metropolitan theater production of “This gap, this terrible gap” in Pullach or admire a toasted bread installation by the artist Alice Musiol in the Ismaning Kallmann Museum (“Delimitations”). The hunger for culture (less for toast) was still great and as soon as it was possible, it was also satisfied in the district in the usual variety. Above all, the aficionados who seek aesthetic experiences in culture that go beyond status or exploitation interests went there.

The Tassilo, the SZ Culture Prize, is also about aesthetic experiences – especially those that arise from local and youthful sources. The district of Munich again presented one of the main prize winners this year: the umbrella poets from Unterschleißheim, a group of young word acrobats led by Sophie Kompe, who enjoy performing on stage, but also put poetic short films they made themselves on the Internet during the lockdown. “As it Rains” from Unterföhring won the band competition of the KJR München-Land “Running for the Best”, the organization of which took longer than ever before due to the pandemic in 2020/21. There were also exciting theater premieres: “Marie Curie” with Anja Klawun in Unterföhring (world premiere) or Werner Schwab’s “Volksvernichtung” directed by Bernd Seidel in Ottobrunn. Also nice: An open-air performance in July with the Oberhachinger Chamber Orchestra and choir in the climbing garden near Deisenhofen. In general, the summer was good for culture in the open air, and there was also a lot to do in the spring streaming strongholds of Haar, Unterschleißheim and Unterföhring.

It was also a nice idea to have a cabbage dinner in the park at the finissage for the exhibition “Garden Work” in the Ismaninger Palace pavilion at the beginning of September, including the chance to have your head transformed into a cabbage head – a homage to the local specialty: Ismaninger cabbage. The director of the Kallmann Museum, Rasmus Kleine, who organized the exhibition, generally looks back on the year with mixed feelings. “Overall, we got what we could get out of it,” he says. After a long break, there were at least a few exhibitions from May to late autumn. The retrospective with works by the current Kallmann Prize winner Chris Bierl has now, of course, been moved to January.

Open detailed view

Treason is a matter of date, diplomat Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand reportedly said. A concert or a cabaret appearance was also a question of the date this year. Philipp Weber, for example, wanted to make a guest appearance in Oberhaching on November 24th. From that day on, however, new, stricter corona rules applied at short notice in Bavaria: 2G plus. Oberhaching’s head of the cultural office, Volker Böhm (“I would have liked to have bitten the edge of the desk”), had to postpone the event.

It was the time when the changeable world of G-rules prevailed in autumn, which gradually became increasingly strict. Above all, the plus variants caused a decrease in viewers. When it was introduced, 3G plus was seen as a quasi-lockdown for the unvaccinated, 2 G plus then as a quasi-lockdown for everyone. The difference to last year is that it was still possible to experience live culture in autumn and during Advent. The current booster regulations also cancel out the plus of the 2-G-plus rule a little.

So hope again for the cinema, which lives from the spontaneity of the visit and its two-hour promise of uncomplicated escapism. “We need real perspectives. Rules with a sense of proportion”, Stefan Stefanov from the arthouse cinema “Capitol” in Unterschleißheim repeatedly called for. He had two or three good months this year, especially September and October, but with the introduction of 2 G plus at the end of November, his complaints became louder again: “The cinema as a cultural asset is in mortal danger.” Well, the “Capitol” is still alive and can continue to rely on the public, especially its regulars.

In general, the fear that some people interested in culture could wean themselves from the presence cultural experience through live streaming, home cinema and couch potato existence was probably exaggerated. “There is a hunger for culture and many tell us: hold on!” Said Florian Nagel from the Unterföhring community center. His colleague Barbara-Schulte-Rief summed it up in June: “After more than six months of closure, the community center will again be a place of encounter and community, a place where theater experiences away from the everyday can be shared.”

Open detailed view

Kleine sees it similarly, who above all appreciates the exchange and the stimulating atmosphere, the conversations with visitors and artists, which are not possible in lockdown: “That which brings a museum to life.” The fact that cultural institutions, of all places, repeatedly suffered particularly quickly from corona restrictions imposed by politicians – although they impressed with good hygiene concepts and did not attract attention as hotspots – annoyed many organizers. Letting go was still not counted. “We remain restless,” explains Matthias Riedel-Rüppel, head of the Small Theater in Haar. “We have opposed the cultural sell-off since March 2020 and will endeavor to do so in the future too.” With all the effort: It is of course easier for employees in the cultural sector in the second year of the pandemic than for freelance artists and technicians. As nice as the consequences of slowing down associated with Corona can be, it is also an existential burden as a forced break into the time continuum of a concert tour or cultural season with permanent financial losses. Some cannot afford to slow down.

Yes, the time. It has become less reliable. Harder to grasp. Perspectives? In late autumn, numerous cultural consultants and theater managers had to confront their courageously put together programs with the new reality of a corona dynamic, canceling, postponing or organizing many things under difficult conditions. “Maybe we’ll be over it in the spring,” says Unterföhring’s head of the cultural department, Barbara Schulte-Rief.