A pdf version of the "Letter of Return of the 2008 Kranichsteiner Musikpreis" and of the "Diplom" can be downloaded by
clicking here.
Marco Momi
August 7, 2025
To the attention of
Director Thomas Schäfer
Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (IMD)
Dear Director Thomas Schäfer,
My name is Marco Momi. I am writing to you as a former participant in the Ferienkurse für Neue Musik (2002, 2006, 2008), and as the recipient of the Stipendienpreis in 2006 and the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis in 2008.
Some awards create a lasting bond between the institution that grants them and those who receive them. This has certainly been the case for me—especially since, over the years, the IMD has entrusted teaching roles to artists I deeply admire. Since 2008, I have done my utmost to honor that legacy by upholding the high artistic standards the Ferienkurse instilled in me in my early thirties.
However, I have been deeply troubled by recent events at the 2025 edition of the Ferienkurse, particularly those involving Ada Gomiz.
With 18 years of teaching behind me, I recognize the risk that her experience could be faced by many musicians I work with now, or may work with in the near future. I feel genuine sorrow imagining what she endured.
I am grateful for her courage—it resonates deeply with me—and I thank the student community in Darmstadt for standing with her, in particular Fredrika Gullfot. Their open letters are admirable, both for their content and for the bravery they show in confronting what—based on available accounts—appears to have suddenly become an unwelcoming, at times even intimidating, academic and production environment.
I do not doubt that you and your colleagues believed there were valid pedagogical reasons for subjecting one of your students to censorship, media overexposure, and institutional disapproval. Yet from my perspective, I see no justification for such actions.
As it is widely recognized, censoring an artist means restricting their freedom of expression—a fundamental human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Even when a work is provocative or discomforting, suppressing it is an authoritarian act.
For this reason, I stand with those urging you to reflect on the consequences of censorship—whether exercised within your institution or within institutions you recognize as production partners. Such actions harm not only the artist whose voice is silenced but also the institution itself, which compromises its ability to defend and promote freedom of expression. The result is a climate of fear, where other creatives may self-censor to avoid similar consequences.
This atmosphere breeds conformity and cultural stagnation, shutting down vital spaces for dialogue, reflection, and meaningful critical engagement.
It is not enough to merely avoid censorship; institutions must actively foster conditions in which artists can express themselves without fear. Young artists in particular—those still in formation and often lacking the structural resilience of more established figures—deserve enhanced protections.
This, perhaps, is the most valuable lesson I learned from the Ferienkurse—one that, for the first time, I now fear may be fading.
The implementation of a vetting process by the exhibiting venue exposes the political instrumentalization of cultural platforms. It is difficult to understand how the curatorial work conducted by IMD—purportedly in defense of Ada and her peers, and based on a considered evaluation of each individual’s cultural and human specificity—could have failed to acknowledge the gravity of what took place.
A young artist in a phase of personal transition, coming from another continent and—placing her trust in your institution—choosing to give space in her artistic thought to a political stance in support of the Palestinian people, cannot be unknowingly exposed to the violence of political and institutional restrictions and vetoes within Germany.
Well before any clumsy attempts to analyze her work—and fully aware that contextual provocation is a legitimate artistic tool available to the community—the trauma Ada has suffered reveals the IMD’s failure to provide adequate forms of preparation and awareness regarding the risks of local political censorship. These are risks that certain artistic practices—particularly those addressing global issues of international politics—currently face in Germany, a country that is part of the European Union.
This lack of foresight, when contrasted with the intellectual sophistication of the many cultural initiatives you regularly curate, could lead one to believe that the IMD has instrumentalized Ada’s work in order to take a political stance and to demonstrate alignment with the German government’s policies in support of the Netanyahu administration.
At this point, it is impossible not to call upon you to make a public and unequivocal statement clarifying the principles that guide your educational approach and curatorial programming.
Furthermore, the unfortunate expression of disapproval by some IMD-appointed educational coordinators toward the students regarding how the incident was communicated reflects, perhaps, a deeper failure in the institutional model itself.
For this reason—and in an effort to prompt serious internal reflection within the IMD—I feel compelled to return the Kranichsteiner Diplom and accompanying cash prize awarded to me in 2008. The cash prize will be returned via bank transfer to the Freunde und Förderer des Internationalen Musikinstituts Darmstadt e.V. I am severing that bond and respectfully request that my name be removed from the list of laureates. This decision is final.
The IMD must be reminded of how essential its inspirational mission remains for new generations of artists.
I return an award that was granted to me many years ago in response to artistic and social models that fortunately no longer exist (or are, at the very least, seriously outdated). The significant and commendable renewal work you have carried out in recent years has encouraged the breaking of certain dominant artistic narratives in favor of others. Yet this incident compels me to remind you: those who break narratives must also be protected.
I am deeply concerned about the potential erosion of structures designed to safeguard the young talents your institution welcomes—many of whom are encouraged to participate through the international academic system.
I urge you to reflect deeply on the fundamental values and the pedagogical models your institution promotes. Unless I see clear signs of change, I will no longer recommend the Ferienkurse as a training opportunity for my students.
I hope that the modest sum I return may serve to highlight how such a relevant and urgent issue—undeniably a source of tension, yet integral to contemporary artistic discourse—could have caught your institution so unprepared, and how it may have caused harm within the community you are meant to serve.
Above all, I hope this gesture may stand as a sign of solidarity with Ada and her peers—a solidarity that, perhaps, my generation failed to offer when it was most needed.
Sincerely,
Marco Momi
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