Kasper König's Controversial Remarks on Turkish-Germans Spark Racism Accusations

On December 17, 2018, at Munich's Municipal Theater, German curator Kasper König encountered severe criticism after he made offensive remarks regarding Turkish immigrants during a panel discussion. Artists Henrike Naumann, Wilhelm Klotzek, and Cana Bilir-Meier voiced their concerns about König's labeling of Turkish-Germans as 'aggressive.' Bilir-Meier, a Turkish-German artist, called the incident 'horrible, full of toxic masculinity, racism and violent power' in a Facebook post. She also claimed that König suggested she won the 2019 ars viva Prize due to her 'exotic' name. König's comments, translated by Hyperallergic, depicted Turkish-Germans driving 'fancy, matte-coated cars' and women smoking shisha, which he described as a 'multicultural extreme' in places like Kreuzberg. The Municipal Theater later apologized publicly on Facebook for comments that could be perceived as degrading to migrants. An open letter from a group of artists identifying as 'Migrant/Black/Indigenous/Lesbian/Queer/Trans* Artists of Color' denounced his statements. Following the incident, the theater confirmed that König had apologized to Bilir-Meier. Although he was hosting the panel to address the rise of the far-right in Germany and Europe, the discussion controversially veered towards immigration topics.