Are Renovations in KHM, NHM, and Vienna Belvedere Being Postponed?
Culture will have to contribute to budget consolidation. This was made clear by Minister of Art and Culture Andreas Babler (SPÖ) in a conversation with the media. He is in the midst of difficult budget negotiations, said the Vice Chancellor. However, it is becoming apparent that the start of planned renovations at the Museum of Art History and the Museum of Natural History, the Belvedere, or in the Salzburg Festival district could be postponed. The relocation of the hdgö to the MuseumsQuartier is also by no means certain.
The SPÖ party leader, who has not previously been known as a cultural politician, waited a long time for his first interviews with cultural journalists. On Thursday, he provided information for the first time in several discussion rounds. The Federal Ministry for Housing, Art, Culture, Media, and Sport, which he heads and whose acronym BMWKMS is also a tongue twister, is not a political dumping ground, but indeed has substantive connections, Babler responded to a question from the APA.
Culture Minister Babler reports on "political wish"
"Taking responsibility for art, culture, and media was a political wish of mine, and it worked out well." Art and culture are not only core themes of social democracy, which also sees itself as a cultural and educational movement, but are also a personal concern of his, the new minister tried to dispel concerns about a lack of expertise. As the mayor of Traiskirchen, he initiated several projects with theater performances or projects for art in public spaces and maintains long-standing friendships that have kept him informed about developments in the film industry.
In addition, he has "many good people" in the ministry, from section head Theresia Niedermüller downwards. "I benefit from their expertise. I am in constant exchange with them and learn a lot. However, I see myself in a political responsibility to secure and give space to art and culture in Austria. This requires political competence. I believe I bring that with me."
He will also have to demonstrate political negotiation skills in the very near future with Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ). This is "the first time" a finance minister understands the argument of the great importance of the creative economy, which brings significantly more to the country economically than it costs. Nevertheless, there will be no exceptions for art and culture in the necessary savings. "When we talk about everyone having to contribute, that naturally also applies to the departments I am responsible for. Whether it will be permissible to speak of cuts in this context will be seen in the end, but there will have to be a contribution." Since a high proportion of the department's funds are legally bound, there are not too many options for this.
NHM, KHM and Belvedere in Vienna affected?
One possibility could be to postpone the start of planned infrastructure projects such as the new, barrier-free foyers in NHM and KHM, the future underground foyer of the Belvedere, as well as the renovation and general refurbishment of the festival halls in Salzburg, wherever there are no contractual obligations.
The planning and project costs, which have so far amounted to around 1.5 million euros, for the relocation of the House of Austrian History currently housed in the Neue Burg to the Museumsquartier, where the new location of the contemporary history museum is actually supposed to open in autumn 2028, could perhaps be written off. He is currently having the relocation project comprehensively evaluated internally and will decide on it by the end of the year, said Babler. "There are many arguments for and against it." However, the planned outsourcing of the hdgö as an independent federal museum is not in question. He sees a societal debate about the use of Heldenplatz as a memorial site as absolutely necessary: "Conducting this discussion comprehensively would do Austria good."
As in the areas of education, health, and justice, there are "just as in the cultural sector" necessities for more resource allocation in some aspects, emphasized the minister in conversation with the APA, the "Kleine Zeitung," the "Salzburger Nachrichten," and the "Oberösterreichische Nachrichten." For example, he sees the intention contained in the government program to further develop "music schools into comprehensive art schools" as a forward-looking project that he wants to implement together with Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS).
Fair Pay as Babler's Concern
Among the "points that require money" is also the area of Fair Pay, which is a particular concern for Babler. He is in the process of setting up an interministerial working group. He promised to address complaints that it has so far been a mere paper tiger and that even federal institutions do not adhere to the recommendations for minimum fees in guest artist contracts. Whether the federal government will be able to step in where federal states withdraw from certain art funding for political reasons is questionable. In any case, a meeting with a delegation of concerned Styrian cultural workers is planned for next Friday. "My political interest is to keep the contemporary cultural scene vital."
Babler, who is also the media minister, emphasized that the rapid implementation of the change in the composition of the ORF Foundation Council demanded by the Constitutional Court, which he pushed for, was only "a first mini-step" towards a planned comprehensive ORF reform. Whether the continued existence of the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, currently secured only by ten million euros annually from the federal budget until the end of 2026, will be enshrined in a new ORF law, Babler did not want to commit: "My wish is to secure the widest possible range of offerings - this also applies to the ORF."
Clarity on many details will only come after the budget speech on May 13, emphasized the culture minister, who also made it clear: The film industry, which complains about the rapid exhaustion of funds from the much-praised new tax incentive models ÖFI+ and FISA+, cannot hope for the early release of new funds. Babler's first summary of his first weeks as Minister of Art and Culture: "It's a lot of fun. But it's also very challenging."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.