The Erich Schelling Architecture Foundation, located in Karlsruhe, Germany, has decided not to present an excellence award to a British artist following his support for boycotting Israel. The foundation typically awards two prizes every two years, each worth 30,000 marks ($16,200 USD) – one for completed architectural work and another for innovative theoretical architectural planning.
This year, the foundation's jury selected British artist James Bridle for his theoretical work, praising it as providing "significant enrichment to current discourse on complex relationships between society, technology, and ecology."
On Monday, just two days before the ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, the foundation publicly announced that it would not distribute this year's special prize for theoretical architectural planning, the category in which Bridle had won.
The British newspaper The Guardian learned that the decision not to award the prize to James Bridle stemmed from his signature on a letter calling for the boycott of Israeli cultural institutions in response to the war in Gaza. The letter, published on an American cultural portal and signed by thousands of artists, accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.
— James Bridle (@jamesbridle) November 1, 2023
The foundation's management discovered Bridle's signature on the letter and subsequently unanimously decided to cancel the award, citing "awareness of German national history and the responsibility that comes with it."
According to the foundation's management, which notified the British artist via email last Sunday about the withdrawal of the prize, his signature supporting a cultural boycott against Israel stands in complete opposition to the cultural institution's worldview. The foundation's leadership stated, "We naturally respect the right to express political positions and understand this is not antisemitism, but the foundation cannot support or be associated with calls for the cultural isolation of Israel."
The foundation's decision referenced the recent German parliament resolution against antisemitism. This resolution conveys the message that "Never again is now: Jewish life in Germany must be protected, preserved, and strengthened." The initiative, unusually uniting coalition and opposition members, passed a set of principles to protect Jewish life in the country.
The proposal also addressed the cultural and arts world, drawing protests from artists who worried that criticism of Israel would be automatically interpreted as antisemitism – potentially limiting freedom of expression. Nevertheless, the decision passed several weeks ago appears to be quickly influencing the cultural sphere, which until recently had been fertile ground for antisemitic expressions, often in the name of artistic freedom.
The British artist, who just lost a substantial monetary prize and international recognition for his work, responded angrily, saying, "Even if they're unwilling to state it openly, the decision is a despicable accusation of antisemitism." Bridle, who had previously created artworks criticizing Israel, also took a jab at the German institution's past, as the Schelling Foundation is named after architect Erich Schelling, whose work during the National Socialist period repeatedly sparked public controversy. In 1933, he joined Nazi organizations, including the SA, and was also a member of the NSDAP.
The foundation's decision comes just days after a German court fined a German-Muslim art curator for posting content praising the October 7 massacre.
