GERMANY 2021
INTERVIEW
FRANK BAUMANN, DIRECTOR, GOETHE-INSTITUTE BELGRADE
CULTURE IS ESSENTIAL IN PANDEMIC TIMES “When I think about a dream project that could be done in the future, the first thing that comes to my mind is that we should organise a big party and concert on the occasion of Serbia entering the European Union” Goethe-institute. That was the effect of 2020. We tried, like everybody else, to switch and change formats, but some of us cannot stand to hear the word “streaming” any longer, because it has become too much. Everything is streamed, everybody produces, but where is the audience?
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ike other cultural institutions, Goethe-institute is facing lots of challenges during the still ongoing pandemic. Nevertheless, it has adapted to the new reality, establishing its COVID relief fund and changing the way projects are implemented. Here we speak to Goetheinstitute Director Frank Baumann to discuss various topics, including the importance of culture during a crisis, how to act against disregard for culture, relations between official institutions and the sphere of culture, and mainly the Goethe-institute’s past, current and upcoming projects.
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During past months we’ve seen lots of analysis and discussion about the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, on education and even on international relationships. In your opinion, what is the most significant impact that the pandemic has had on the culture and creative sector? As is known, all cultural events had to be cancelled in the previous period, all institutions in the field had to be closed and all artistic projects were postponed or cancelled. The same applied to the cultural and creative industry and, of course, to us at the
If we reflect on the period behind us, what could be concluded about the importance of culture during a crisis? If we’re talking about the lockdown situation and the complete shutdown that was unnecessary, my impression is that places of culture should be among the first to reopen, and not among the last. And the question is: with which institutions or spheres of live do we compare culture and cultural institutions? The importance of culture is evident, as it can help people overcome their fears. And fear is palpable when a life-threatening virus is waiting just around the corner. The problem is that there are people who regard art, music, literature, and film as something almost superfluous, something you can easily do without, which is wrong. All these people who see the fundamental relevance of culture as being in line with leisure activities, comparing it with fitness studios and casinos, must allow themselves to be accused of being too lightly discrediting everything that defines our democracy. Because culture is essential in pandemic times. In Germany, we have the term “Systemrelevanz” - what is relevant for a society and what is not. And culture was obviously not relevant.
