The municipality of Cologne has cut the operational subsidy of the Academy of the Arts of the World for 2018 from 1.000.000 Euro to 600.000 Euro. This was decided by the City Council of Cologne at the meeting on the 7th of November. On the initiative of the CDU, FDP, Green Party and the council party GUT, the financial committee introduced the corresponding bill. Our efforts to avert this decision – even through an open letter – have so far been futile. The SPD and the Left party, who plead for the strengthening of the Academy, submitted a last-minute amendment proposal that was rejected. We cannot yet say what exactly this budget cut will mean for the work of the Academy, and prefer not to speculate. Currently, we are collecting material about the cut on our website, which is constantly being updated.