Culture - Goethe-Institut Singapur

White Ravens Festival in the International Youth Library

International Youth Library
Children’s Literature, a Cultural Heritage

In the picturesque Blutenburg Castle in Munich resides the world’s largest library for international children’s and youth literature. But it is anything but a dreamy castle of books. [more …]

Photo (detail): © Volker Hartmann | Urbane Künste Ruhr 2016 Architecture

Social Architecture
Crossing the boundaries between art and architecture

For 21 years now, the actors of OSA - office for subversive architecture – have been upending perception in the field of tension between architecture, design, performance, video and sound art. [more …]

during the 11th Manifesta biennial in Zürich, 2016 | Alicja Pahl and Katerina Valdivia Bruch

Art Biennals
When Artists Become Curators

What do exhibitions look like when they are curated by artists, and what makes them so special? What distinguishes an artistic approach from a curatorial one? Experts from the art scene and artists report on their experiences. [more …]

Photo: Cordula Flegel Society and Current Affairs

Where to?
„Even rootless cosmopolitans like me need a home“

In the project "Where to?" authors and intellectuals from almost 40 countries were given a questionnaire on refuge and migration. One of them is the sociologist Eva Illouz. [more …]

Photo (detail): © leowolfert Media

Open Data in Germany
Open Data in Germany – More Transparency and Democracy

Authorities publish their data without any restrictions, your average man or woman in the street, as well as programmers, can make use of them – that is the core idea behind Open Data. For quite a few years now in Germany the topic has been gaining momentum. [more …]

Foto: RTL Society and Current Affairs

Deutschland 83: Interview with producer Jörg Winger

In the lead-up to the UK season finale of Deutschland 83, we had the chance to speak to Jörg Winger, creator and producer of the hit TV series. [more …]

Deutscher Beitrag im Wettbewerb: „24 Wochen“ von Anne Zohra Berrached

Photo (detail): © Friede Clausz Film

Competition and Honorary Bear
German films at Berlinale

Last year: Three Germans in Competition! New Wenders! New Dresen! New Herzog! What can the Berlinale 2016 possibly bring in terms of German A-listers? [more …]

Hip-hop artists like the trio Ok Kid! from Cologne often become a new generation of protest singers.

Photo (detail): Stefan Braunbarth / Sony Music

Protest Song in Germany
“Destroy What Destroys You!”

Underground has become complicated. Because it assumes that there are norms that must be protested against. [more …]

Photo (montage): “The Murderers Are Among Us” by Wolfgang Staudte (left) | © Deutsches Filminstitut, Frankfurt – “Phoenix” by Christian Petzold (right) | © Piffl Medien Film

Zero Hour in Film
Rubble, Utopia, New Beginnings

From The Murderers Are Among Us to Phoenix – the period immediately after the war has been dealt with time and again in cinema, such films always reflecting the way in which Germans view themselves. [more …]

Thomas Kilpper, from the series “State of Control”, 2009, linocut, Bundeskunstsammlung

German State Collection of Contemporary Art
Acquisition Post-1945

Since 1971, works by contemporary artists have been added to the “Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland”. [more …]

Their books deal with social topics: Juli Zeh and Ilija Trojanow;

Contemporary German literature
A return to politics?

The crisis in Europe, the confrontation with refugees: not only German society but also German literature is undergoing politicization. Yet the debates take place mainly in the features section. [more …]

Rainer Werner Fassbinder
“I Would Like to Build a House with my Films”

Some considered him to be a “problem child”, others recognized that he was a genius. Regardless of what one might think about him, he will forever have a place in German cinema. [more …]