Culture Monthly News

We are excited to present Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 masterpiece The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the oldest surviving animated feature film. Long before Disney, Reiniger created sophisticated animations, but despite her groundbreaking pioneer work the German artist rarely got the recognition she deserved. For the KinoKonzert series, this cinematic gem will be accompanied by an equally as detailed original score by US-born, now Sydney-based composer Phillip Johnston and his quartet.

Bauhaus Now explores the legacy of the Bauhaus school of design by highlighting its visionary ideals and radical practices. Founded in 1919 in Weimar, the school moved to Berlin in 1932 and subsequently was shut down by the Nazi regime, forcing many of its students to flee the country. The exhibition will focus on the Bauhaus legacy in Brisbane through the works of European émigrés who were instrumental to the development of modernism.

Celebrate the European Day of Languages in style and win a Leitner ebike or a German language course for two! Simply capture your favourite European saying along with the meaning and the literal English translation and be part of the #literallyEurope photo competition. Join this fun activity initiated by the cultural institutes of France, Italy, Austria, Spain, and Germany, supported by the German Consulate in Sydney and the EU Delegation in Canberra.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) returns for the first live concert hall performances in more than six months. And they chose a German-Austrian program, opening with a string quartet by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, followed by Arnold Schönberg's majesticVerklärte Nacht, an exquisite piece of music that paints a vivid scene filled with intrigue, secrecy and ecstasy.

In September the International Literature Festival Berlin celebrates its 20th edition, including a fascinating virtual program. Guests linclude two Australians: award-winning children’s books author and artist Shaun Tan will highlight the expressiveness of his pictorial narratives, and Tara June Winch talks about a family of the Indigenous Wiradjuri people that is at risk of being destroyed by a mining company.

As Germany has the European Council Presidency until the end of 2020, the Goethe-Institut presents several Europe-wide projects: Europe’s Kitchen, Tell Me about Europe, The Disappearing Wall, #oekoropa, Generation A=Algorithm and Olafur Eliasson’s participatory artwork Earth Speakr.

The German word Fehler could simply be translated as mistake, but in this case it is the response to one of life’s big questions: how do we innovate and make progress? Often, it happens by mistake: misunderstandings, digital glitches and faulty processors can unexpectedly lead to something new. Jump online and immerse yourself in a collection of big and little mistakes alike.

The topic of Reconciliation is as important for Canada as it is for Australia. With Canada being the Guest of Honour for the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair, the Goethe-Institut invited 20 authors to create comics responding to this theme. The initiative shows works in German, English, French and indigenous languages.

Graphic Travelogues collects existing travel stories, creates new ones and presents them in a new setting. As you track the participating artists' travel routes and destinations on the interactive map, you'll come across Jan Bauer who we invited to visit Australia for his graphic novel The Salty River.

As Europe is thrown into turmoil by a devastating pandemic, Griffith Review 69: The European Exchange explores the deep and complex relationships between Europe and Australia. Edited by Ashley Hay and Natasha Cica, it features contributions from Christos Tsiolkas, Robyn Archer, George Megalogenis, Julienne van Loon, Christian Thompson, Arnold Zable, Gabriella Coslovich, Anthony Macris, and many more.