It is rare for encounters to have such an empowering effect. We organized only one event together with Bianca Klose: gegen Rechts: die Kunst, politisch Stellung zu beziehen (Against the right-wing: The Art of Taking a Political Stand) in 2017 at Ballhaus Naunynstraße. Prominent people  from the worlds of art, culture, politics, and society came together to develop possibilities and strategies to counter right-wing political influence and the appropriation  of culture.

Bianca Klose sat between Amelie Deuflhard (artistic director of Kampnagel / Hamburg), Kazım Erdoğan (chairman of the Aufbruch Neukölln association and founder of the first Turkish fathers’ group in Germany), Clara Herrmann (district councilor for Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg / B’90/Die Grünen), Steffen Mensching (artistic director / Theater Rudolstadt), and Dr. Torsten Wöhlert (State Secretary for Culture / Berlin). Adrienne Goehler (independent curator/author; former Senator for Culture and HKF curator) moderated. It was a unique evening: here, political experience and complementary approaches to social change came together. And since the stage reveals truths, one could also see sparkling self-convictions and dazzling passion for one’s own cause. Only Bianca Klose sat there, listening, analysing, and speaking with the clarity of someone who knows the issue inside and out. In every field, there are dedicated and capable people – and then there are professionals. Bianca Klose was a professional  at understanding how the far right operates and how to prevent it from gaining more and more ground. And she was an expert at framing the task as a collective one – that is, presenting panelists and the audience with a realistic challenge.

Bianca Klose founded the Mobile Beratung Rechtsextremismus (Mobile Advisory Service on Right-Wing Extremism) and shaped it for years. Her dedication, her expertise, and her voice were invaluable to many people and initiatives. Especially now, as right-wing extremism expands its influence, becomes institutionalized, is normalized, and threatens the lives of many, we will miss her voice and her actions.

After that first encounter, one was simply glad to know that there are people like Bianca Klose – that there is Bianca Klose and the Mobile Beratung Rechtsextremismus. And so, over the years, one’s thoughts kept returning to that remarkable event, to that encounter. One was glad because she had shown that it is possible to contribute to society with great clarity.