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2:00 PM

Join us for the 30th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut South Africa

Anniversary Celebration|On 18 October we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut South Africa! You are invited to join a day filled with activities for kids and grown ups, an exhibition opening and music concert in the great company of partners and friends of the institute.

  • Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, Johannesburg

  • Price Free

Das Bild ist in zwei Abschnitte unterteilt. Links befindet sich ein grünes und weißes Banner mit dem Text "CELEBRATING 30 YEARS" und "18 OCT 2025." Rechts interagieren drei Personen mit bunten Kunstwerken an einer Wand und spielen mit aufblasbaren Musikinstrumenten vor einem grünen Goethe-Institut-Banner. © Goethe-Institut

Das Bild ist in zwei Abschnitte unterteilt. Links befindet sich ein grünes und weißes Banner mit dem Text "CELEBRATING 30 YEARS" und "18 OCT 2025." Rechts interagieren drei Personen mit bunten Kunstwerken an einer Wand und spielen mit aufblasbaren Musikinstrumenten vor einem grünen Goethe-Institut-Banner. © Goethe-Institut

Join us from 2pm with your kids for a fun filled afternoon or from 5.30pm for the reception and opening of our birthday exhibition, as we celebrate three decades of culture, language and exchange between South Africa, Germany, and beyond. Revisit key moments, cultural projects and share a piece of cake!

We invite you to explore some key moments from our history at the following link.

Download the programme here

Bios

The Kids from Amandla Street, written by Lereko Mfono, explores themes of friendship, xenophobia, and identity. It invites the audience into the world of Obi, Jimmy, Palesa and Lillian, four youth living in Amandla Street in inner city Johannesburg, navigating their way through an environment that offers comfort and joy, but also quickly becomes a place full of prejudice, racism and fear. Within the complexity of the street they think of as home, the kids who live there seek to lead whole-hearted lives and dream big dreams. They are put in a situation where they must come up with their own solutions and decide on their personal values and actions, even when these are at odds with the authority figures in their lives.

South African Brass meets Berlin club & jazz

Àbáse is producer, keyboard player and DJ creating a blend of westafrican, brazilian, hip hop, jazz and club music. He focuses on a heavyweight rhythm section (being a percussionist himself) and drifts between funky riffs and silky smooth chord structures. The word “àbáse” comes from the westafrican Yoruba language and stands for “collaboration” - which is the key element of Àbáse’s music. In Johannesburg, he will play with J.T.L horn section a trio horn that has featured on stages with Scorpion Kings, Lira, Thandiswa to name a few. The trio features Lebogang Komane (trumpet), Themba Mhlongo (saxophone), Junior Matsila (Trombone). 

A curator of feeling and rhythm, Ms. Niksta crafts immersive soundscapes where jazz, soul, and alternative sounds converge. Her sets are a journey—an eclectic exploration of the known and unknown, designed not just for dancing, but for thoughtful movement and deep connection. She becomes arhythmic extension of the event itself, weaving narratives that are both vibrant and intimate.

Play Africa brought its creative placemaking experience to the courtyards at Constitution Hill, as well as the surrounding streets, venues and parks, to offer developmentally-appropriate programmes and exhibits that celebrate every child’s right to play and learn through hands-on, experiential learning.  

Naledi Chai is a Johannesburg based interdisciplinary artist, researcher and DJ. She is the co-founder of Fly Machine Projects, a research and archive space as well as a collaborator through multidisciplinary contingent, Septober Energy through which she explores the progressive merging of text and public visual art, print, DIY, independent publishing and distribution through zines, posters, merchandise and artworks.
 

With over a decade of experience in screen printing as both an artistic practice and a tool for cultural expression, Mambila Mageza, founder of Trackside Creative, has facilitated workshops, live activations, and collaborative community projects across South Africa and abroad. His work emphasizes poster and T-shirt printing as powerful mediums of communication, activism, and community building. Mambila’s approach fuses historical traditions of protest printing with contemporary cultural events, creating work that resonates across audiences.

Naadira Patel is a Johannesburg-based artist, designer and curator whose practice focuses on contemporary visual culture, spatial politics, technology, cultural trends and new media.