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Colonial Era – Attack on the statue of General Storms in Brussels (Belgium), which reminds of the colonial past

Photo (detail): Dursun Aydemir © picture alliance / Anadolu Agency

Colonial traces in the public space
And the statues really are alive

What should we do with colonial monuments and traces in the public space? Ever since the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent worldwide demonstrations in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, the discussion about historic monuments has been rekindled.

There was life in the old dog yet! At the time this picture was taken in 1990, Nelson Mandela should have been dead a long time before, if we rely on the memories of many of his contemporaries. His supposed passing away is the inspiration for the phenomenon of collective false memories - the Mandela effect.

Photo (detail): © picture alliance/dpa/empics

False Memory
The Mandela Effect

Whether it is a case of believing someone has long since died, although he or she is still in fact enjoying the best of health, or singing song lyrics with the wrong words – when many people collectively remember things falsely, we speak of the Mandela effect. It could never happen to you, right? A look at our examples might prove you wrong.

Cheap to produce, but with catastrophic consequences for the environment: lignite mining.

Poto (détail): © picture alliance / Andreas Franke

Phasing out coal
The energy revolution

Working towards sustainable energy for the future: Germany wants to completely abandon coal mining by 2038, an ambitious goal with quite a few obstacles still blocking the way.

ProjectsTopics and Projects of Goethe-Institut in Canada

Science and Arts
New Nature

An Immersive Media and Climate Science Exchange between Canada - Germany - Mexico - US

Dossier
Mistakes

How does the new come into the world? We celebrate the error and its innovative power: the most beautiful small and big mistakes in art, language, technology and society.

Shaping the Past

How does the past take shape? What happens in the process of coming to terms with the past? What social repercussions are associated with the rooting of history in monuments and memorials? How can those narratives be shifted or upended through alternative, innovative approaches to memorialization? These questions and many others are at the center of our project, Shaping the Past.

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CultureNews from culture and society in Germany and Canada