Workshop for German Language Teachers
Impossible Friendships

Mon, 06.02.2023
4:00 PM - 17:30 Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata

We live in a world of division, in a world where resources are becoming scarce, in a world where the climate is changing, in a world where – according to OXFAM - with more inequality, where wars cause endless suffering, where the search for consensus seems to be lost in favor of polarization. This sometimes makes us despondent, it paralyses us and our efforts to confront unfavorable circumstances with something that also defines human beings: their humanity, their ability to connect, to build strong bonds. 

This workshop is about inspiring friendships that are sought beyond gender, religion, nationality, local animosities, social status, different ethnicity and / or competition. Friendships that make us more resilient to all the adversities in life that we must face, that give us courage and keep us going, because we know that humanity is not an empty word, but a very concrete experience. Friendships that have made us more open because we have understood something, driven by curiosity that comes from affection. Friendships that, occupied by mutual prejudices and/or unfavorable circumstances, initially seemed impossible, had it not been for an event that changed everything…  
Let us tell these stories as lived realities or invented ones.

About the conductor:

Monica Cantieni, born 1965, lives in Wettingen, Switzerland. With her novel Grünschnabel she was the finalist for the Swiss Book Awards 2011. The translation of the same, The Encyclopedia of Good Reasons, published by Seagull Books, Kolkata, was nominated for the First Book Award at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2015. The novel is translated into 7 languages.  

Amongst her other published works is Hieronymus’ Kinder as well as many short stories in anthologies for which she has received various literary awards and grants. She is currently working on her new novel. 

Furthermore: She built up the online culture department of Swiss National Radio and Television and headed it until 2017. 


By prior registration only.