| [email protected] on Sat, 15 Apr 2000 18:02:52 +0200 (CEST) |
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| <nettime> Lease Termination Notice to Public Netbase |
Dear Friends and Colleagues, Below you will find our comments on the termination of the Public Netbase lease in Vienna's Museumsquartier. We would like to thank you for your many declarations of solidarity and support, and we ask you to continue showing your encouragement. We cannot accept - and still do not believe - that the new government and its policies can dictate that contemporary innovative art practice should be banished from the Viennese Museumsquartier, the self-described "Emerging Central Venue for Contemporary Art and Culture". We do believe that - especially now under the current political situation, more than ever - free and independent media, art and its infrastructures are extrememly important. Therefore, we will maintain our function as an internet access provider as well as our work in the Museumsquartier, from where we serve as a platform that interweeves art, technology, science and politics, as long as possible. That is why your support is so very important - both symbolically as well as literally. To support our cause we ask you to send an email or letter/fax to the addresses I have included below. Nice letterheads and elegant wording do impress these people (some of which are our supporters, others who are not) and it certainly helps to show the international support to have Netbase stay in the museumsquartier and possibly get more space to offer even better services to the public. For the Public Netbase Team, Marie Ringler _____PRESS RELEASE April 11, 2000_____ Lease Termination Notice Served to Public Netbase in the Museumsquartier. Public Netbase has been notified that the lease for its premesis in the Museumsquartier will be terminated. This action threatens to bring an end to the internationally successful achievements of one of Europe's most respected media-culture institutions. That is because, in Austria, the clock ticks with a different beat. In Europe, development and expertise in the field of new media receives a broad base of support. But here in Austria, Public Netbase - a successful model of expertise, skill and mediation - is nearly at its end after years of successful work and achievement; after serving as a internet service provider in 1, 200 important art and cultural projects. The step taken by the Museumsquartier Errichtungs- und Betriebsges.m.b.H (the organization responsible for building and maintenance of the Museumsquartier) threatens any further development of an important, innovative cultural center in Vienna. Moreover, it confirms all of the fears and criticism that have been expressed about the Museumsquartier since its own beginning. Austrian cultural policy and administration obviously has no interest in creating or securing conditions for free and active cultural activities and development. Despite - or perhaps even because of ? - the indisputable international, and even national, recognition of Public Netbase, the existence of all organisations like ours is under serious threat. _____FACTS REGARDING THE NOTIFICATION OF TERMINATION OF THE PUBLIC NETBASE LEASE_____ Service-Discourse-Mediation in the Museumsquartier. Since 1994, Public Netbase in the Museumsquartier has developed from a small, active cultural project into one of Europe's most respected media-culture institutions. Embedded in a tight Austrian and European network, Public Netbase focuses on work that lies on the cutting edge of technology and art. This is shown through our successful activities, projects and events in the Museumsquartier as well as throughout Europe - such as the New Media Projects of the cultural capital Brussels 2000. HISTORY Through several years of discussions with the Museumsquartier Errichtungs- und Betriebsgesm.b.H., Public Netbase was planned as an essential and integral part of the new Museumsquartier. After extensive negotiations, not only was the presence of Public Netbase secured, but so was the substantial expansion and development of new media. In the summer of 1999, we had to accept with great regret that even though it already had been financed, our Media-Space in the Museumquartier's Oval Hall H would be replaced by the presentation of a model of the Museumsquartier. Our efforts to find a new solution were not successful - and have so far resulted in material damages totalling 450.000 Euros. Despite substantial proposals made by Public Netbase to the Museumsquartier - based on the skill and expertise of Public Netbase - no productive solution could been be reached so far. ENDANGERING THE FUTURE On April 5, 2000, the existence of Public Netbase in the Museumsquartier was thrown into chaos with the serving of the lease termination notice. We learned from the notice that the Prekarium (lease) would be cancelled as of April 2001. In addition to this, renovations inside the Museumsquartier would begin in the summer of 2000 - meaning that Public Netbase work would be severely disrupted long before our lease ended. Because the notice of termination does not propose any substitute premesis for Public Netbase, nor a date for returning to the original one, we must believe that through the pretext of "necessary renovations", one of the most successful and valued cultural institutions will lose the base of its existence. _____EMAIL ADRESSES and FAX NUMBERS of our political contacts_____ please do send us a cc to [email protected] so we know who received what Museumsquartier Errichtungs- und Betriebsgesellschaft mbH Gesch�ftsf�hrer Dr. Wolfgang Waldner [email protected] Museumsquartier Museumsplatz 1 A-1070 Wien Fax: ++43-1-523 58 86 Bundeskanzleramt .kunst Staatssekret�r Franz Morak [email protected] Ballhausplatz 1 A-1014 Wien Fax: ++43-1-53115 2869 Bundesministerin f�r Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur Elisabeth Gehrer [email protected] Minoritenplatz 5 A-1014 Wien Fax: ++43-1-533 77 97 B�rgermeister der Stadt Wien Dr. Michael H�upl [email protected] Rathaus A-1082 Wien Fax: ++43-1-4000 99 81115 Stadtrat f�r Planung und Zukunft Vizeb�rgermeister Dr. Bernhard G�rg [email protected] Rathaus A-1082 Wien Fax: ++43-1-4000 99 81400 Stadtrat f�r Kultur Dr. Peter Marboe [email protected] Friedrich-Schmidt Platz 5 A-1082 Wien Fax: ++43-1-4000 99 81160 Stadtr�tin f�r Finanzen, Wirtschaftspolitik und Wiener Stadtwerke Mag. Brigitte Ederer [email protected] Rathaus A-1082 Wien Fax: ++43-1-4000 99 81200 ### marie ringler public netbase media~space! institute for new culture technologies/t0 museumsquartier museumsplatz 1 a-1070 vienna, austria fon: +43 1 522 18 34 fax: +43 1 522 50 58 mobile: +43 664 424 01 73 http://www.t0.or.at [email protected] ### --> protect your code - request my PGP key - send me email with subject: pgp key # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: [email protected] and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [email protected]