The Latest at Goethe

How does professional cultural management in Germany work? What can I glean from it to use in my own surroundings? What about Africa and my institution could interest cultural institutions in Germany? Fourteen cultural managers from Africa were able to find out during the first advanced training programme for cultural management by the Goethe-Institut. Now, in their reports, they tell of the results of this intercultural exchange.

Peter Kewowo is full of praise: "Everyone in the Visual Artists – Namibia artists' collective could benefit from the managerial techniques and experience we shared and learned in Berlin." The 29-year-old was an intern for two weeks at the Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst. He experienced various planning phases there, from the creative process of designing an art project to successful press and public relations.

Kewowo was one of 14 cultural managers from 13 African countries who were invited to Germany in March and April by the Goethe-Institut for the advanced training programme Cultural Management in Africa. InWEnt – Capacity Building International organized a four-week course on behalf of the Goethe-Institut covering subjects such as project planning, marketing, fundraising and organization and human resources development, which was followed by the practical phase enabling the participants insights into the way German cultural institutions work. The programme is one of the pilot projects of the Goethe-Institut's new Culture and Development Initiative. Its aim is to professionalize cultural institutions, in particular in countries involved in so-called development cooperation. This involves both creating sustainable interregional networks and promoting cooperation between these and German cultural institutions. The focus is on practical work in the cultural sector and on joint productions.

The African cultural managers considered the new networks that the programme generated particularly valuable. "The relationships that we have created are profound and without measure. Coupled with the training we have received, the network built will benefit Africa for generations to come," says Julia Mishi Wambiji of the National Museums of Kenya. Peter Kewowo agrees: "Yes! A networking partnership has been launched for the management ideas and experiences to be shared and used where applicable in our organizations, which might lead to the creational chances of developing new programmes, projects and implement them in the near future."

The reports of all 14 participants can be read here.

More cultural management programmes will follow it this year. In September, ten cultural managers from Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus and Uzbekistan will take part in a one-month advanced training course in Berlin followed by practical traineeships in German cultural institutions. Another advanced training programme is being prepared at the Goethe-Institut Beijing. In autumn, 20 people from the cultural sector will be trained on site together with the Institute for Arts and Media Management of the Freie Universität Berlin and then in Berlin.