Press Release B.L.O.-Ateliers / Lockkunst e.V. July 31, 2024
Contract Negotiations between DB and Lockkunst e.V. Regarding B.L.O. Ateliers Remain Unresolved
Today, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, marks the expiration of the 20-year lease between the association Lockkunst e.V. and Deutsche Bahn InfraGO. The usage prohibition issued on April 26 for the tenants of the B.L.O. Ateliers remains in effect.
Negotiations have been ongoing since May 16 to determine the conditions of a new lease and the technical requirements for lifting the usage prohibition. The current contract draft from DB is limited to two years and requires Lockkunst e.V., the tenant of the B.L.O. Atelier grounds, to renew the entire electrical system and assume full maintenance responsibility. These necessary investments are economically unfeasible given the short lease duration. To reach a viable compromise, Lockkunst e.V. has proposed a three-month moratorium to DB.
Despite expressions of solidarity from all Berlin political parties, numerous representatives from federal politics, hearings in the House of Representatives, discussions in the Berlin Senate, and more than 20,000 petition signatures, a long-term solution for the retention of the ateliers at this location is not yet in sight.
We interpret the broad support from politics and the public as a societal mandate and are making every effort to preserve this functioning cultural institution. We need the promised support at the political level and hereby specifically call on federal politicians to persuade their DB corporation to contribute to the preservation of the project at the B.L.O. Ateliers site.
Quotes:
Matthias Elfmann (Project Coordination for Lockkunst e.V.): “Despite addressing over fifty percent of the deficiencies on our own initiative, the usage prohibition issued by the landlord DB InfraGO has not been lifted. The required conversion of the power system is financially equivalent to a new installation of the electrical system.”
Peter Tietz (Sculptor and Board Member of Lockkunst e.V.): “The necessary investments cannot be refinanced within the offered two-year lease term. We now need political support for a long-term solution.”
Christa Fülbier (Visual Artist and Board Member of Lockkunst e.V.): “At this point, we do not have a contract that we, as the board of the association, can responsibly sign.”
Press Contakt:
Tim Voss
Mobile: +49 (0)176 62553113
presse@blo-ateliers.de