RAF Show Curators Abandon Request for Berlin Funds

The controversial Berlin exhibition on the disbanded German terrorist group the Red Army Faction (RAF) will now go ahead without state funding. The Berlin Institute for Contemporary Art announced Monday it had withdrawn its application for state funding for an exhibition planned for next winter. Originally, Berlin’s cultural fund was to decide on a new and reduced funding application from the organization, but institute head Klaus Biesenbach said it had decided to withdraw the application because of the political skirmish surrounding the show. In an interview with the news agency DPA, Biesenbach said that the current attention was an indication that the exhibition would not be judged on its factual content, but would instead become a political fireball.