The Latest at Goethe

A runway of old photos, lots of familiar faces and a coach who speaks German well: Politicians and people from the cultural sector met in Berlin at the Goethe-Institut’s Summerfest. One of the topics of conversation was the significance of real meeting places in a world that is becoming more virtual.

It began scandalously. That’s what one could think, anyway, for of all places at the Goethe-Institut yesterday, art was trod upon in Berlin: Some of the approximately 700 guests at the Parliamentary Summerfest of the Goethe-Institut overlooked a collage designed by Martin Kippenberger on their way into the auditorium and simply walked on it. Old, many of them unfocused black and white photographs, everyday scenes from the Kreuzberg fashion scene around Claudia Skoda paved the floor. Kippenberger created the collage in the 1970s and sealed it so that it could serve as a runway for fashion shows. The artist was also one of the unofficial stars of the evening since his opulent exhibition at the Hamburger Bahnhof was offered to the guests of the Summerfest in a way as a fringe programme. It was also highly recommended by Goethe President Klaus-Dieter Lehmann.

The guests were not only politicians like Norbert Lammert, Cornelia Pieper, Peter Gauweiler and Gesine Lötzsch, but also many people from the cultural sector – such as dramatic adviser Nike Wagner, writer Moritz Rinke, director Andreas Dresen and Klaus Staeck, poster artist and president of the Academy of the Arts. And so, in his address Lehmann suitably spoke about something that is perhaps no longer a matter of course nowadays: real, physical places as spaces for dialogue and encounters.

Much has been written and said about the importance of the Internet when the subjects of modern revolutions, transparency and participation come up. According to Lehmann the virtual world cannot replace physical encounters. “We need real places to serve as free, public spaces and places for dialogue,” he said. “The Goethe network, as a physical network, is more important than ever.”

The institute in Myanmar, which will open later this year, will mark 94th country to be included in this very network. Numerous projects promote exchanges across national boundaries: networks for young documentary filmmakers in Southeast Asia and Latin America, the artists’ platform in Africa, an exhibition project on the culture of remembrance in eleven southeast European countries and many more. So it is not surprising that the music at the fest was also a result of worldwide networking in the form of notes and sounds. The DJs Gebrüder Teichmann underscored the evening with pieces created during the Ten Cities series of events, a transcontinental project that brought together musicians from Africa and Europe. The pieces also were the soundtrack this evening to the images by Herlinde Koelbl that were projected on the wall. The well-known photographer made portraits of German learners from 22 countries.

Pep Guardiola was not one of them. However in his welcoming address Secretary-General Johannes Ebert raved about the good German he spoke at his first press conference as new FC Bayern coach, pointing out where Guardiola learned the language: his teacher was found for him by the Goethe-Institut New York.

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