Statutes

Articles of the International Artist Committee (accepted by Amtsgericht Cologne, Oct. 13, 2000)

§1 Name, Seat, and Business year
1) The association carries the name >International Artist Committee<
2) The International Artist Committee is entered into the association register at the district court in Cologne under the No. VR 7338. Seat of the association is Cologne.
3) The business year of the international artist committee is the calendar year.

§2 Purpose and Goals
1) Art determines perception, concrete findings, and organization processes much more than society is conscious of.
2) It is the intention of the committee to support and further art’s general humane impulses, as well as its special moral and political demands.
3) The freedom of art is based on the right to self-fulfillment and freedom of speech. The committee has the goal to perform in such a way as to insure that this claim be preserved and is if need be enforced.
4) The committee’s purpose is to ensure that art receives its proper appreciation and that its development is promoted.
5) The committee asserts itself and is directly involved on the federal level, as well as internationally to better interdisciplinary projects and upholds:
(a) the freedom of the arts, the freedom of publication and information; the right to self-fulfillment and freedom of speech; cultural selfrepresentation; tolerance towards national and non-western forms of artistic expression;
(b) the discussion, treatment, and public circulation of analyses, concepts, recommendations and their promotion in humane and cultural areas;
(c) exercising influence on projects and decision processes of political bodies;
(d) the promotion of democratic organization and the stabilization of the principle of the self-administration and of innovations to the traditional cultural contributions in this area;
(e) improvement and cooperation in the international cultural relationships; national ties and peace donating measures for the welfare of the arts and its benefit for the Federal Republic of Germany and its external cultural politics;
(f) members who support those who bear responsibility for cultural politics, as well as those who face political measures of discrimination, whether they be politically or racially founded, or based on differences in world-view or ideology;
(g) actions taken to inform its members and activate the public with regards to cultural developments, political decisions and processes in the cultural area.
6) The committee is no professional association but a voluntary alliance of those who represent the freedom and legal claim of art in the international community.
7) The committee has no affiliation with political parties and their goals; it is independent of political parties, religious communities, unions, economical groups and individual interests.
8) In accordance with the executive board, national sections can be formed.
9) To carry out the association’s statutory goals it can maintain services and facilities, provided that the assumptions for them, in particular the §65 and 68 AO, are given.

§3 Membership
1) Members of the association are: Artists, Art theoreticians, and Persons exclusively or predominantly engaged in international contemporary art.
2) Member Categories
a) regular members
b) honorary members, at the suggestion of executive board or
c) supporting members, are those accepted by the general assembly and confirmed for their donation. Supporting members have neither the right to vote nor take part in the annual meetings.
3) Members respect their different artistic and political persuasions and have no personal gain from their membership.

§4 Selection of new members
1) The proposal must be made by an association member and submitted to the executive board in writing at any time, however at the latest eight weeks before the annual meeting. No special form is required but a short vita and description of the proposed candidate’s field of activities should be included. Acceptance as new member will be voted on and passed by a simple majority of the members present at the next annual meeting.

§5 Termination of the affiliation 
1) The affiliation terminates with death, through withdrawal, or exclusion.
2) The withdrawal can only occur at the end of a business year, it is to be explained in writing and submitted to the executive board at the latest three months before the end of the business year.
3) The exclusion of a member is only permissible if they no longer meet the assumptions which are required for acquisition of the affiliation, or they coarsely damage the reputation of the organization. Members who without grounds do not pay their annual fee will be excluded from the association. This does not apply to honorary members. The general assembly rules on exclusion of a member with 2/3 majority of the members present at the annual meeting.
4) Before a decision is made the general assembly must give the member the opportunity to make a statement either orally or in writing within an adequate period of time. The decision of the general assembly must be founded in writing and sent to the member, who is to be excluded.

§6 Rights and Responsibilities of the regular member
1) Members should inform the executive board about matters of interest to International Artist Committee and which pertain to its goals.
2) Members respect their different artistic and political persuasions and have no personal gain from their membership.

§7 Membership fees
1) The association is entitled to raise yearly membership fees. The general assembly decides with a simple majority vote on the amount of the membership fee and the due date.
2) In special cases the executive board can decide on a reduction or waver of membership fee.

§8 Organs
1) The organs of the International Artist Committee are the general assembly and the executive board.

§9 General Assembly
1) The formal general assembly (yearly general meeting) occurs once in the business year.
2) The general assembly can take decisions for all matters specified in the agenda, in particular about:
(a) acceptance of the annual report of the managing board;
(b) release, election, and recall of the members of the executive board;
(c) acceptance of the budget set up by the executive board;
(d) amount and terms of membership fee;
(e) changes in the statutes;
(f) reception and exclusion of members;
(g) dissolution of the association.
3) The announcement of the general meeting occurs by means of a simple letter from two members of the executive board posted to the last known address of each member 3 weeks before the meeting is to convene; in this case, the neither the postal date nor the day of the general meeting are counted.
4) The chairperson of the executive board leads the chairmanship in the general meeting, in the case of her/ his prevention her / his deputy or – in case of her /his prevention – a member of the executive board chosen by the general assembly.
5) Every member has a voice in the general meeting. If nothing else is stipulated in the statutes or the rules of procedure, the general assembly decides with simple majority of the votes given.
6) Changes in the statues require a 2/3 majority vote of all members present; the same goes for the dissolution of the committee.
7) The general assembly can according to the same stipulation for dissolution or statutes changes decide on rules of procedure or change these rules. The contents of the rules of procedure are obligatory for all members.
8) Over every general meeting, a written protocol is to be made, in which the decisions taken are to be included. The protocol is to be signed by the chairperson of the general meeting. However, the effectiveness of the decisions is not dependent on the fulfillment of this formal requirement.
9) The executive board is free, if the circumstances require it, to call for a vote.

§10 Exceptional General Assembly
1) Upon decision of the narrower or of the extended executive board, as well as at request of at least 20% of the members, who in this case must announce the desired agenda, an exceptional general assembly is to be convened.

§11 Executive Board
1) The executive board consists of the presiding chairperson(president), the business secretary as deputy to the 1. presiding chairperson and two deputy chairpersons, all of whom are entered into the association register.
2) The president and two deputies chairpersons will be voted into office for a term of two years. The business secretary will be voted into office for a term of three years. Should a member of the board withdraw from office their successor will hold the vacated office for the rest of the term of their predecessor.
3) The executive board is capable of making a decision, if at least three members participate in the decision making. In the case of a parity vote the vote of the president carries the vote.
4) The executive board makes all decisions not otherwise stipulated by these articles, with a simple majority of its members.
5) The 1. presiding chairperson, two deputy chairpersons and the business secretary form the executive board in sense of the §26 BGB. The 1. presiding chairperson alone, or together two deputy chairpersons represent the association in legal and extra-judicial matters. They form the executive body in the narrower sense, in contrast to the extended executive board members. The executive body is responsible for carrying out the decisions of the general assembly.

§12 Duties of the Executive Board
1) If not otherwise stipulated by the general assembly, the secretary (manager) is responsible for all business of the International Artist Committee. She/he has in particular the following duties:
(a) preparing and announcing the general meeting;
(b) carrying out decisions of the general assembly;
(c) representing the International Artist Committee in the Cultural Council and the Kunstfonds e.V. Foundation, Bonn;
(d) preparing the yearly budget report
(e) taking care of the cash business.
2) The budget report of the secretary will be annually proofed by two examiners of the books, who are elected by the general assembly.§13 Non-profit character
1) The International Artist Committee serves exclusively and directly non-profit purposes in the sense of the paragraph on Ôtax concessions‘ (ÒSteuerbegünstigte ZweckeÓ) of the tax code (AO)
2) The International Artist Committee is selflessly employed; it does not pursue in the first place purposes of self gain.
3) Financial means of the association may only be employed for the purposes laid down in its articles.
4) In the sense of §55.1.1 AO no member as such shall receive funds from International Artist Committee; no person may receive financial favors foreign to the associations‘ purposes, or disproportionately high remuneration.

§14 Dissolution of the International Artist Committee
1) Dissolution of the association will be decided by the general assembly with a 3/4 majority vote.
2) If general assembly does not decide otherwise, the business secretary will be authorized to liquidate.
3) In the case of dissolution of the association or loss of non-profit status property left over after completion of liquidation will fall to the association ‚Amnesty international e.V.‘, who shall employ it for non-profit or charitable purposes. Or another non-profit association that promotes art and culture and whose goals correspond to. Decisions to transfer the residual property may only be carried out after the finance authorities responsible have given their consent.

Cologne, July 2000 (Translation Dawn Leach January 2001)