Court – Cultural workers filed constitutional lawsuits over lockdown

The Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH) should clarify whether the ongoing culture lockdown contradicts the guaranteed freedom of art and actually represents a mild and proportionate means of protection against the coronavirus. A corresponding constitutional complaint by the “Florestan Initiative”, which was co-initiated by pianist and director Florian Krumpöck, has now been submitted in the form of individual applications.

According to a broadcast, the ten individual applicants include the actress Nina Proll, the singer Angelika Kirchschlager, the cabaret artist Alfred Dorfer and the political scientist Ulrike Guérot. “Meanwhile, a large number of scientific studies underpin the effectiveness of the prevention concepts of cultural institutions and thus suggest an opening,” it says. Practical examples such as those from the Teatro Real Madrid, which has been open for months, would show “that a serious health policy approach can definitely be reconciled with opening scenarios for culture”. (apa)