2012 [räusper] In 2013, all Upper Austrian cultural awards went to men again!
On the occasion of the presentation of the 2013 Provincial Culture Awards on November 15 in the Stone Hall of the Linz Landhaus, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that the 2013 Provincial Culture Awards will once again be presented exclusively to artists. Artists can only benefit from the talent promotion awards. Which of course makes a financial difference.

The text below was already sent out in 2012. in 2013, we can simply take it out of the dustbin again, smooth it out a bit with an iron and resend it to those responsible with a few minor changes. See graphic opposite.

There are too few or no women applying - they say.
In our opinion, it is the responsibility of the body issuing the call to ensure equal participation - especially as this was formulated as such a concern in the national cultural mission statement (see text below). This responsibility is often shifted to FIFTITU%, for example.

FIFTITU%, on the other hand, has been struggling since last year with considerable budget cuts (from the state of Upper Austria) and yet tirelessly for the cause, but our resources are also limited. Two half-time workers must not be used as an excuse to implement state concerns.ALTER TEXT corrected...

In 2013 (2012), all Upper Austrian cultural awards went to men!

A picture is worth a thousand words - but FIFTITU% still has a few words to say about this year's provincial culture award ceremony...

Listen to the critical words on the 2012 National Culture Award here

The Provincial Culture Prize in Upper Austria has a long tradition. it was awarded for the first time in 1961. It took until 1975 (!) for a female artist to be honored...
The renowned visual artist Waldtraud Cooper was the first. It then took another 9 years before Brigitte Schwaiger was chosen for her literary work.

In between, her male colleagues were invited to the podium one after the other. It's not to say that they didn't do a good job - no question! And yes, those were still "different times" in terms of equality and its institutionalization BUT what makes the whole thing really tragic is the fact that today, in 2012 to be precise, it is apparently not a jot better and no responsible politician or female politician makes a peep about it!

All cultural awards this year would go exclusively to men! Of the 24 (23) "major cultural prizes" awarded, no less than 3 (!) went to women.

With results like these, the question is more than justified as to how seriously the state government takes itself when the "Upper Austrian Cultural Mission Statement" (2009) talks about "gender balance (...) and reducing deficits in this regard.". And because this is obviously not enough fine words, it also states "... that women and men benefit equally from the goods, resources and opportunities of society and can draw benefits from them."

AHA!? is also not irrelevant in this case: the large cultural prize is endowed with 11,000 euros and the small one with 7,500 euros.

So, Ms. Provincial Councillor, now your commitment is needed!

The ball is in the court of the responsible members of the Upper Austrian provincial government: in future, female artists must be given preferential treatment when awarding art prizes until gender symmetry is established. There is a lot of catching up to do and please take yourself at your word and do your job!

Another malice should not go unmentioned in this context: in the new music theater, all (!) of the commissions for "art in construction" were also awarded to men.

With feminist greetings!

PS: A small consolation is that at least talent promotion awards are also repeatedly awarded to women.

More links:
Landeskorrespondenz No. 155 from August 16, 2013

Calls for tenders and competitions Upper Austria

Report ORF Upper Austria 2012

Report ORF Upper Austria 15.11.2013

Medieninfo Land OÖ 2012

Waltraud Cooper

Obituary Brigitte Schwaiger, the press

Landeskulturpreise in Wikipedia