SPIELMOTOR MÜNCHEN E.V.

In 1979, BMW and the City of Munich founded the association SPIELMOTOR MÜNCHEN e.V., with the support of Münchner Olympiapark GmbH. Their goal was to sponsor special cultural activities, or to make them possible in the first place. The association's first project was organizing a Munich theater festival, which at that time was almost unique. This theater festival was part of the cultural life in Munich until 1985. Then in 1981, SPIELMOTOR organized the »Alabamahalle«, a performance venue featuring an international program that became well known far beyond the borders of Munich (with the help of the Bavarian Television Channel's Monday evening broadcast of »Live From the Alabamahalle«). When the concept of the theater festival didn't quite work out any longer and the Alabamahalle auditorium had to be torn down in 1988, SPIELMOTOR sought out new areas of activities: The programs »Encounter with the Netherlands«, »Dialogue with Poland« and »Dialogue with Kiev« introduced audiences to the new artistic developments in these regions of the world. SPIELMOTOR also became a junior partner of the City of Munich in two projects: The »Munich Biennale - International Festival of New Music Theater« and »DANCE«, the international festival of contemporary dance. Since 1995, SPIELMOTOR has also been organizing its »own« theater festival, SPIELART, which takes place every two years and is a forum for contemporary forms of theater from all over the world.

The association SPIELMOTOR MÜNCHEN e.V. is a stable and sound Public Private Partnership: The partners, BMW and the City of Munich, established statues and by-laws for the association (without much bureaucracy) that are solid as well as easy to administer. They share the financing of the association's activities on an equal basis, and allow the association the freedom to choose the content of these activities to a large extent. This is the open "secret of success" that has prevailed for over thirty years by now, and the name of the association provides a clue to its program: SPIELMOTOR - both partners are a driving force for performances with artistic qualities.

The Cultural Communication of the BMW Group
Cultural Communication - that stands for a dedicated exchange between the BMW Group and the landscape of culture in its entire colorful diversity, in a local context as well as on a global level. Their employees and interested members of the global general public will be involved in this exchange. The goals of the BMW Group are to participate in lasting and exclusive partnerships with cultural institutions and artists and to support high-quality cultural projects with substance and perspectives. BMW has been involved in the cultural scene for over thirty years. The company realizes that Cultural Communication is an essential component of company communication.

When the BMW Group commits itself to culture, it commits itself likewise to the absolute freedom of the creative minds behind the projects. This freedom is just as important for art to prosper as it is for guaranteeing the essential, path-breaking innovations that are vital for a successful enterprise. For over thirty years, the BMW Group has advanced a broad spectrum of cultural activities. National and international, internal and external. The goal of Cultural Communication is to build lasting, exclusive partnerships as well as sustainable, challenging and innovative projects.

Together with the City of Munich the BMW Group started the organization Spielmotor München e.V. in 1979. This Public-Private-Partnership provides long-term support for international, innovative festivals: The "Spielmotor München e.V." is the prime example of the cultural activities of the BMW Group, which by now have been on-going for thirty years. As a Corporate Citizen the company is also aware of its social responsibility in regard to culture, and it works to support contemporary art and innovative projects of every expressive art form in Munich. At the time it was founded, the Public-Private-Partnership "Spielmotor München e.V." was unique in Germany. It is obvious by its support of primarily international avant-garde theater, dance and music that this exclusive and enduring partnership between a cultural office and a company is interested in an intercultural dialogue as well as the specific sponsorship of young and upcoming artists.

Cultural Office of the City of Munich
The cultural exchange within the European Union is especially significant for cultural policies in big cities, because it contributes to the cultural self-awareness of a Europe that has common values and preserves the diversity of its cultures and languages. However, it is also indispensable, on the one hand, to invest in the exchange with non-European cultures, and on the other hand to integrate into the cultural process typical regional ways of life and their dynamic, continuous development.

The SPIELART theatre festival is particularly aware of this responsibility, and for this reason it is to one of the most important events sponsored by the Cultural Office of the City of Munich. In addition to young artists in the global theatre and performance scenes, the SPIELART festival also presents local groups, like, for example, Die Bairishe Geisha. It works closely with East European theatre festivals through the network initiative "Theatre/ Festivals in Transition (FIT)" and it initiates competitions, productions, coproductions and discussions on issues and problems relative to theatre.

SPIELART has established an excellent international profile through its work, and is the main focus of the Cultural Office's efforts in the area of long-term developments in theatre. Ultimately, these efforts thrive on the intensive and creative dialogues during the SPIELART festivals, which take place not only onstage during the festivals. A wide variety of dialogues also take place between the artists, audiences and organizers before and after the SPIELART festivals.