Town Musicians of Bremen – Cultural participation and poverty in old age

The view into the halls of many traditional cultural institutions is deceptive: although older people often form the majority of the audience there, culturally active people are clearly in the minority among older people overall. Those who are poor are particularly rare among regular users of culture. The 27th issue of kubia magazine focuses on the cultural participation of older people living at or below the poverty line.

In no other age group has the risk of poverty recently increased as much as among older people in Germany. Women and people with an international background are particularly often threatened or affected by poverty in old age. “It is time to scandalise this political disgrace in a rich country and at the same time put pressure on government officials and parliamentarians to make something change,” says political scientist Professor Christoph Butterwegge in his article for kubia magazine. In order to fulfil their mission of enabling comprehensive cultural participation, cultural institutions must also react to this development.

Issue 27 of Kulturräume+ presents empirical findings on the artistic and creative activities and cultural visits of older people. From this, the authors derive ways that can lead to greater cultural participation. Practical reports provide an insight into artistic and cultural-educational concepts that do not perpetuate the stigmatisation of people living in poverty, but rather understand classism as a social problem.

The photo series in this issue is by the Cologne-based artist duo Angie Hiesl + Roland Kaiser. With their new production of “Dressing the City und mein Kopf ist ein Hemd #2”, they invite us to take a different look at the entanglements of age(ing), environment and consumption in urban shopping streets.