KUMA Press

Managing Culture Culture Management in China 2010 Officially Started Location:

Beijing China, Berlin Germany

Time:

March – December, 2010 th

Application Deadline: 30 April, 2010 Organizer:

Goethe-Institut China Institute for Culture and Media Management of Freie

Universität Berlin Stiftung Mercator Project Leader: Dr. Uwe Nitschke, Director of Goethe-Institut Beijing Project Manger: Ms. Mumu WANG, +86 10 8251 2909 ext. 126, mumu.wang@peking.goethe.org PR: Ms. Shuo FENG, Tel.: +86 10 8251 2909 ext. 121, shuo.feng@peking.goethe.org Websites: Ms. Jinglin ZHANG, Tel.: +86 10 8251 2909 ext. 122, jinglin.zhang@peking.goethe.org

【Press Release】 In 2009, Goethe-Institut China, together with Institute for Culture and Media Management of Freie Universität Berlin and Stiftung Mercator, have for the first time initiated the study program "Culture Management in China”, which worked with hundreds of Chinese and German institutions. This program has selected 15 young

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culture managers from all over China to conduct a series of trainings, visits and interns in both Beijing and Berlin. st

On March 1 , 2010, Goethe-Institut China held the press conference for "Culture Management in China”, officially announcing the roll-out of the second edition, which targets 15 to 20 young managers under age 40, with more than 2 years of working experience in Chinese performance arts agencies, art/film/music/dance/drama festivals, museums, galleries.

During the press conference, Dr. Uwe Nitschke (Director of Goethe-Institut China), Mr. Enzio Wetzel (Vice Director of Strategy & Evaluation, Goethe-Institut Zentrale), and Prof. Dr. Klaus Siebenhaar (Director of Institute for Culture and Media Management of Freie Universität Berlin), together have conducted an in-depth exchange of ideas and discussions with media upon the topic of "culture management".

【Summery of the Press conference】 Culture Management is beyond Boundary

The culture management project by Goethe-Institut covers not only China, but also other countries in Africa and central Asia.

What it provides is working methods for organization and management of cultural and art institutions. Although countries may vary at difference stages of development, culture itself has no distinction between developed or developing ones. No matter in developed or developing countries, the basic ways used for management of cultural institutions have no difference, and they are actually universally applied. As down to operational level, there may be a variation based on national situation, which further demonstrates the importance of communication. Under the same umbrella of culture management, the project in each country has adopted its own structure and style.

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Goethe-Institut China is not simply introducing knowledge into China, but building up a platform for in-depth communication between Chinese and German culture management, offering a channel for Chinese managers to know the theoretical and practical experience accumulated for years, also a wonderful opportunity for German managers to understand the status quo of Chinese work, which in both ways may lead to more possibilities for future cooperation and joint advancement.

Culture Management is in Demand

Each year, there are growing numbers of new buildings in China, including culture and art institutions like museums and theatres. People are eager to know how to manage these institutions, and they are also trying, importing or innovating some new ways. Goethe-Institut would like to share with China what Germany has learnt based on years of experience.

It was an experiment when running the project for the first time in China last year, but now it may already be called a success. It has not only provided Chinese young managers with professional training, but also expanded their interpersonal network, furthermore, leaded to more affiliated projects. Until today, many Chinese institutions have expressed their interest in cooperating with this project.

Culture is not Creative Industry There is always a big tension between the so-called culture value and more economic value, both of which, on the other hand, are bridged by culture management.

In economic terms, the economic value of culture is based on the scarcity of resource. Resource refers not only to finance, but also creativity, and its transformation into productivity, as well as human resource, and more. Culture management aims to help managers to better find out the resources, identify a good resource, so as to protect and preserve the existing culture.

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In China, sometimes culture is defined as a creative industry, while in Germany, creative industry refers to commercialization, or profit-driven industry. However, culture is not targeting monetary interest or profit. The culture managers should own a non-profit- driven way of thinking and flexibility to preserve or discover better resources, find out better ideas, and finally give creativity a chance.

Culture Needs Space Culture cannot be managed, controlled, or manipulated with its developing direction.

Culture needs freedom. Culture management shall provide and create space for culture, to let it grow and develop. Such space, in a broader sense, is also one of the working targets of culture managers.

Take Berlin as an example, the reason that Berlin has been successful in the past decades is its unique atmosphere and environment, i.e. tolerance, acceptance, and encouragement of new ideas. A more direct impetus is the huge number of cheap empty buildings and public spaces, which offer a possibility for exhibitions and performances. Besides, Berlin can also provide a low-cost life for artists.

To develop culture and art, providing cheap spaces to artists may be more effective than offering financial support.

For more information, please visit: www.goethe.de/china

【Pictures of the Press conference】

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From left to right：Prof. Dr. Klaus Siebenhaar, Mr. Enzio Wetzel, Dr. Uwe Nitschke, Ms. Wang Mumu Copyright: Goethe-Institut (China), Photographe: Wangtian

From left to right：Prof. Dr. Klaus Siebenhaar, Mr. Enzio Wetzel, Dr. Uwe Nitschke Copyright: Goethe-Institut (China), Photographe: Wangtian

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Journalists Copyright: Goethe-Institut (China), Photographe: Wangtian

Goethe-Institut China The Goethe-Institut is the Federal Republic of Germany’s cultural institution, operating worldwide. Goethe-Institut Peking was established in 1988 as the first foreign cultural centre in the PRC. Since then, it has devoted itself to the dissemination and use of the German language in China, and has also been energetically and extensively engaged – together with its Chinese partners - in expanding Sino-German cultural exchange and cooperation, spanning various cultural domains including music, dance, film, art, architecture, library science, and more. www.goethe.de/china

Updated on 9th, March, 2010

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