Our principles

Transparency

Our principles

Transparency is important to us. Therefore, Festspielhaus Afrika gemeinnützige GmbH is part of the global network of Transparency International, a non-profit organisation committed to the fight against corruption. The ITZ contact person is Annika Turkowski (festspielhaus@schlingensief.com). We commit ourselves to make the following information available to the public and to keep it up to date:

Festspielhaus Afrika gemeinnützige GmbH was founded in 2009 by Christoph Schlingensief and  is located at Fehrbelliner Str. 56, 10119 Berlin. Since its founding, it has been recognized as a non-profit organization by the Tax Office for Corporations I Berlin under tax number 27/613/01883. The managing director of Festspielhaus Afrika gGmbH is Aino Laberenz. The shareholders of the gGmbH are Aino Laberenz (96%) and Frieder Schlaich (4%). 

The memorandum of association regulates fundamental matters such as the purpose of the company. More information about our vision, our mission statement and the sustainability of the project.

Our work is exempt from corporate income tax according to § 5 para. 1 no. 9 of the Corporate Income Tax Act and from trade tax according to § 3 no. 6 of the Trade Tax Act because of the promotion of art and culture as well as international understanding according to the last exemption notice we received from the Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin (tax ID 27/613/01883) dated 22.09.2022 (assessment period 2020).

We maintain two advisory boards that are responsible for quality assurance:

Advisory Board in Germany: Amelie Deuflhard (Artistic Director Kampnagel Hamburg), Matthias Lilienthal (Dramaturge & Artistic Director), Claudia Kaloff (Artist Relations), Peter Raue (Lawyer & Art Collector) and Frieder Schlaich (Film Director & Film Producer).

Artistic advisory board in Burkina Faso: Smockey Bambara (Rap Artist), Gaston Kaboré (Filmmaker), Siriki Ky (Sculptor), Etienne Minoungou (Theatre Maker), Irene Tassembedo (Choreographer), Konomba Traoré (Composer, Professor for Traditional Music)

Controlling: Our annual financial statements are controlled by an independent auditing company (Ebner Stolz, Berlin) and published in the annual report. The independent auditing firm Ebner Stolz regularly provides the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board with analyses and overviews of relevant developments, such as donations received, public grants, but also the amount of project funding, personnel, material and marketing expenses or other information relevant to the strategic management of the organization.

We publish the financial statements of Festspielhaus Afrika gGmbH in accordance with statutory regulations of the German Federal Gazette. The preliminary balance sheet and P&L for the year 2021 (as of 07.10.2022) can be downloaded here. The corresponding current activity report 2021 (in German) here.

In order to keep the personnel costs in Berlin as low as possible, the team structure under the management of Aino Laberenz has always been kept as small as possible. To ensure a professional work process, the areas of public relations, accounting, graphic design and translation have been outsourced and are partly provided as pro bono services by project partners. You can read more about our structure here.

We also regularly collaborate with other organizations that support us with their expertise. For an overview of our support network visit here.

We maintain a corporate affiliation with the non-profit Operndorf Afrika Foundation. The Operndorf Afrika Foundation was founded by Aino Laberenz at the end of 2012 and is recognized as a non-profit foundation. The members of the Board of Trustees are: Karina Frille (Auditor & Tax Consultant, Ebner Stolz), Gabriele Horn (Director Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art) and Aino Laberenz (Managing Director Festspielhaus Afrika gGmbH).

In 2021, Festspielhaus Afrika gGmbH received project funding from the Senate Department for Culture and Europe in the amount of 27,980 euros, which corresponds to approximately 10% of annual revenue. There were no individual donations accounting for more than 10% of total annual revenue.