Each and every a few years given that 1990, the modest German town of Pirmasens has awarded artists and writers the Hugo Ball Prize, named for the metropolis native who was a major determine of the early 20th-century German Dada motion. In December, Pirmasens introduced artist and filmmaker Hito Steyerl and author Olivia Wenzel as the 2023 recipients of the €10,000 (~$10,800) and €5,000 (~$5,400) awards, but as a substitute of delivering the prize, the town will look at Ball’s antisemitic legacy.
On Steyerl’s ask for — and with the agreement of Wenzel, the town, and the prize nomination committee — the 2023 award will be changed by an open discussion about historic and latest antisemitism and racism. The panel is scheduled for January 23, and speakers consist of Ball scholars, antisemitism researchers, historians, and philosophers.
“I believe it could be a effective occasion to jointly question Germany’s antisemitic and racist cultural heritage additional closely,” Steyerl informed Hyperallergic. “And regrettably, the two however persist nowadays in the German cultural scene and beyond.” In July, Steyerl withdrew her perform from the embroiled Documenta contemporary art quinquennial, citing the organizers’ dealing with of antisemitism allegations.
Ball was a poet, theorist, and thinker who penned blatantly antisemitic passages in his writings. A notable example exists in his 1919 essay “On the Critique of German Intelligentsia,” in which Ball discusses a “German-Jewish plot to damage morality.” For decades, the extent of the poet’s antisemitic views remained largely underneath-recognized.
The January 23 dialogue will also interrogate the racist legacy of Ball and Dadaism. All through its training course, Dadaism continuously appropriated and frequently belittled non-Western traditions, reinforcing European notions of non-White cultures as “primitive.”
In a January 6 statement, Pirmasens Mayor Markus Zwick mentioned he was “very grateful” to Steyerl for employing her prize nomination to initiate a discussion all-around antisemitism.
“Pirmasens and the Hugo Ball Prize acquire a distinct position in opposition to antisemitism, racism and other sorts of discrimination,” Zwick stated. Whilst the 2023 edition of the prize has been canceled, the metropolis ideas to award the grant in long run several years.