Europe by Groupe Dejour

EUROPE

THE GOETHE-INSTITUT IS UNDERPINNED BY A PROFOUND COMMITMENT TO INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION AND EXCHANGE.

In an ever-more connected world, we believe that culture and technology have no borders. We nurture the transnational openness and imagination gained through language and learning. We champion tolerance, diversity, and freedom of movement and expression. In this spirit, we subscribe wholeheartedly to the vision of an integrated and inclusive Europe. The past year has significantly raised the stakes for these values. As a European institution, Britain’s final exit from the EU was always going to be painful. The profound restrictions and repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic have added further challenges to our cross-border work. In this climate, the Goethe-Institut London is more committed than ever to advancing an open, democratic Europe. In response to the rise of populism, we want to engage in meaningful debates on how we can shape the Europe we want to live in together. Our response to Brexit and to the barriers imposed by the pandemic is to foster bonds across Europe with renewed vitality and innovation. Through Goethe-Institut talks, discussions, artworks, residencies, symposia, and regular public events, we make space for European reflection, analysis, and innovation. From online dialogues on solidarity to our Voices.Europe choral work to the CROWD international dance exchange or the DAOWO network for arts and blockchain cooperation, our initiatives seek to engage and empower Europeans of all ages and to build conversations between communities and sectors across the UK and throughout mainland Europe. Working in close collaboration with partner institutions, organisations, and cultural practitioners across the continent, we are proud to initiate and support multilateral projects that empower European citizens, nurture the European conversation, and honour the shared experiences and diverse perspectives that define our European home.

Dr Katharina von Ruckteschell-Katte Director Goethe-Institut London

ABOUT US THE GOETHE-INSTITUT IS GERMANY’S CULTURAL INSTITUTE, OPERATIONAL AROUND THE GLOBE. Across 159 locations in 98 countries, we promote knowledge of the German language, foster international cultural cooperation and nurture a comprehensive understanding of German society. In the UK, we have institutes in London and Glasgow. Both offer language courses, a range of cultural events and libraries – in the physical and digital realm. The Goethe-Institut London, located on Exhibition Road with ready access to nearby museums, has a rich cultural and educational offering. Our wide range of language courses support linguists of all levels to learn and improve their German for work, studies, travel, or personal development. The Goethe-Institut Library serves as a resource for anyone curious about contemporary Germany, and for those interested in teaching and studying German as a foreign language. The Goethe-Institut London also promotes international cultural cooperation through a variety of initiatives and events that explore German culture within a global framework.

OUR NETWORK

THE GOETHE-INSTITUT LONDON IS ONE OF THE KEY INSTITUTES IN A TIGHT-KNIT GOETHE-INSTITUT NETWORK ACROSS EUROPE AND THE WORLD. This network is defined by an outstanding and constantly expanding roster of educational, cultural and civil society partners, allowing us to develop relevant, resonant and deeply-rooted work in each of our locations. This is key for the success of our programming. In close collaboration with institutions, initiatives and cultural practitioners, we work on interdisciplinary projects and across all art forms, seeking to enrich and expand contemporary discourse in arts and society with a range of international perspectives and innovative events open to all. They include public art installations, discussions, digital gatherings, residencies, workshops, talks, and symposia.

EUNIC LONDON Over the last 12 months, Goethe-Institut London held the Presidency of EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) London. A branch of EUNIC Global, EUNIC London was established in 2007 to connect the Londonbased cultural institutes and embassies of EU member states. At present, the network has 31 members, sharing knowledge and resources to promote greater cooperation and partnership between European nations and UK organisations. EUNIC London is a proud initiator, organiser and supporter of creative projects highlighting Europe’s remarkable diversity in arts, culture and language.

GERMANY’S SIX-MONTH PRESIDENCY OF THE EU COUNCIL CONCLUDED IN DECEMBER 2020. DURING THIS PERIOD, WE ASKED: WHAT DEFINES EUROPE AND HOW DO WE WANT TO LIVE IN EUROPE IN FUTURE?

EU2020

With more than 220 events – including debates about artificial intelligence, climate-neutral travel schemes, public installations, and intergenerational discussions about Europe – our EU2020 program reached over 200,000 people across the continent. The projects Europe’s Kitchen, Tell Me about Europe, Disappearing Wall, #oekoropa and Generation A=Algorithm were all part of the federal government’s official cultural programme for the 2020 Council Presidency. In addition, the GoetheInstitut has also been involved in the implementation of Olafur Eliasson’s participatory artwork Earth Speakr, initiated on the occasion of the Council Presidency. The Berlin-based artist designed the work to amplify the voices of young people regarding the future of Europe and the planet.

EU2020

DISAPPEARING WALL BELFAST

THE INTERACTIVE ART INSTALLATION DISAPPEARING WALL WAS SET UP ACROSS EUROPE BETWEEN AUTUMN 2020 AND SPRING 2021.

Celebrating European languages and ideas, the project consisted of a Plexiglas frame filled with 6,000 wooden blocks, each inscribed with a quote from European high or pop culture. From Poznan in Poland to Barcelona in Spain, the work was constructed in 15 cities across 10 countries, sharing Europe’s intellectual and linguistic diversity, from a Hannah Arendt quote to a line from a Beatles song. Visitors to the Disappearing Wall were invited to take a block from the installation home. As more and more blocks were removed, the wall gradually “disappeared”, leaving only the transparent Plexiglas frame. A project full of symbolism!

Based on an idea proposed by Maria Jablonina in a workshop carried out by the architect and engineer Werner Sobek, Disappearing Wall was first initiated by the Goethe-Institut Moscow. In Belfast, the work was installed on the Titanic Slipways from 21 October until 6 November 2020, in collaboration with Belfast-based Catalyst Arts and Urban Scale Interventions. The project was accompanied by four workshops with local artists engaging in different areas of the city and celebrating the diversity of Belfast through stories, shared experiences and collective history.

goethe.de/disappearingwall

EU2020

WITH THE DISCUSSION SERIES TELL ME ABOUT EUROPE, WE INVITED AUDIENCES IN LONDON AND 12 OTHER EUROPEAN CITIES TO DISCUSS EUROPE’S PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. As a prompt, the conversations drew on interviews collected for the European Archive of Voices, in which individuals born in the first half of the 20th century share their memories and life paths. The interviews touch on topics such as war and conflict, the disparities between urban and rural living, gender (in)justice, religious freedom and the recent return of nationalism. Different perspectives from Eastern and Western Europe are also evident. Each Tell Me About Europe discussion featured a sound collage of these archived voices by sound artist Marc Matter, inviting participants to listen, respond, and join an intergenerational, transnational conversation. The exchange encouraged reflection, analysis and imagination. What values is Europe built upon? How might the Covid-19 pandemic change Europe or entrench existing challenges? What can and should political, social and cultural Europe look like in the future? How do young people want to continue writing history?

TELL ME ABOUT EUROPE

EU2020

goethe.de/tellmeabouteurope

IN THE FACE OF HUMANITARIAN AND ECOLOGICAL CRISIS, MASS MISINFORMATION, AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENTS, AND COMPROMISED FREE SPEECH, THE GOETHE INSTITUT DEVOTES SIGNIFICANT EFFORTS INTO FOSTERING CIVIL SOCIETY AND ITS VALUES.

CIVIL SOCIETY

Through art, culture, language and education, we encourage civil society actors to test new ground and seek new solutions in and for our societies. How have seismic political shifts played out in civil society? What can we learn from under-represented regions and experiences? How might cultural institutions nurture civil society values? Our (Re-)Collecting Europe Residencies and the Imagining Futures program are just two examples of our multiple initiatives to provide space, time and resources for artists, journalists and other practitioners to discuss, comprehend and reflect on pressing issues of our time.

CIVIL SOCIETY

(RE-)COLLECTING EUROPE

(RE-)COLLECTING EUROPE IS A RESIDENCY PROGRAMME DEVISED BY THE GOETHE-INSTITUT LONDON, GIVING TWO JOURNALISTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL THROUGH THE UK FOR FOUR WEEKS.

The programme aims to reach emerging journalistic voices encouraging critical thinking and creative debate. Against the backdrop of the UK’s departure from the EU, the journalists-in-residence will examine the social and cultural impact Brexit will have on civil society in the UK over the course of four years. Every year, the programme invites two journalists to stay at the Goethe-Institut London for one week, followed by a three-week journey through the UK. During their residency, the selected journalists will realise their proposed project. The finalised project will be featured on the institute’s website and published via other media outlets.

Themes and approaches featured so far include: the impact of Brexit on young people; a regional focus on Yorkshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to explore what kind of future people imagined for themselves in 2016; the independence movements in Scotland and Wales and associated construction of identity; “Cornishness” as a potentially positive example of community in post-Brexit Britain; “over tea” conversations with people in key areas in the UK; and a focus on efforts to rebuild community spaces in so-called “left-behind” areas.

goethe.de/uk/recollectingeurope

CIVIL SOCIETY

SOLI.DIALOGUES

OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, WE HAVE ALL BEEN CONFRONTED WITH PROFOUND CHALLENGES: CLIMATE CHANGE, A GLOBAL PANDEMIC, ECONOMIC INSECURITY, AND A LOSS OF ORIENTATION AND VALUES. ALL THIS IN EVER MORE FRAGMENTED SOCIETIES AND SPLINTERED POLITICAL LANDSCAPES.

Established social media has not delivered in building social cohesion, but rather reinforced echo-chambers, oversimplification and polarisation. We have become trapped in patterns of reaction, distance, fear and hostility. For humanity to transition into a new paradigm, we urgently need to exercise understanding, suspend judgement, and listen. In the digital initiative Solidialogues, participants were matched in dialogue clusters of up to six individuals, each carefully curated to reflect diverse backgrounds and opinions. The dialogues covered a range of topics, from media to memory, cultural history to collective social impact. In each group, a guiding question initiated the dialogue. The proposal was to practice listening and to allow for the space between perspectives to reveal the possibilities of diverse and previously unimagined futures.

solidialogues.one

CIVIL SOCIETY

FACT SCOUTS

FACT SCOUTS, A NEW PROJECT IN COOPERATION WITH THE SECRETARIAT OF FEDERAL MINISTRIES OF EDUCATION IN GERMANY, AIMS TO BRING TOGETHER YOUNG PEOPLE FROM ACROSS EUROPE TO DISCUSS AND CHALLENGE FAKE NEWS IN A SECOND LANGUAGE.

Young people today encounter online media from all kinds of sources and do not always find it easy to know what they can trust. Fact Scouts will develop media literacy skills and help participants approach online media – and the social and political issues it represents - in a more objective and discerning way. In exchanging ideas and experiences with peers from different countries, participants will also have a chance to overcome borders and language barriers and build up a multinational and multilingual understanding of democratic values.

IMAGINING FUTURES

When It Breaks It Burns by coletivA ocupação at Transform19

A FUTURE FOCUSED PEER NETWORK AND EUROPEAN CO-COMMISSION EXPERIMENT.

At a moment of continued uncertainty, EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) brings together independent performance festivals from across the UK and mainland Europe and invites them to rip up the festival rule book as they explore what the future of producing festivals will look like. Imagining Futures connects nimble and adventurous festivals and fosters collaboration between the sectors, in line with EUNIC’s cultural relations values. It aims to spark new connections, support artistic development and encourage porous, international dialogue at a time when barriers seem to be increasing. The festivals will discuss the most urgent themes impacting on artistic choices and festival logistics and explore innovative formats for the future. Topics include climate change, care, representation, sustainability, artist development, funding, pace, rhythm and risk. Key conversations will be documented and shared with cultural colleagues as these crucial discussions develop. The festivals will also have funding to bring artists into the programme to offer another perspective in response to the shared values and emergent themes being discussed.

CIVIL SOCIETY

The Darkest Corners by RashDash at Transform17

CIVIL SOCIETY

The network includes festival leaders from five UK festivals and seven festivals from EU countries as a core group. A number of London-based cultural institutes are also involved:

Transform, England (Lead Partner Festival)

Theaterformen, Germany

Gateshead International Festival

Buffer Fringe, Cyprus

of Theatre, England

ImageTanz, Austria

Outburst Queer Arts Festival, Northern Ireland

Goethe-Institut London, England

Take Me Somewhere Festival, Scotland

Finnish Institute, UK and Ireland

Submerge Festival, England

Embassy of Switzerland, London

Alkantara Festival, Portugal

Flanders House, UK

Baltic Circle Festival, Finland

Portugese Embassy, London

Batard Festival, Belgium

Austrian Cultural Forum, UK

auawirleben Theaterfestival, Switzerland

High Commission of Cyprus, London

goethe.de/uk/imaginingfutures

BRINGING TOGETHER ARTISTS, THINKERS AND CREATIVE MINDS IS AT THE HEART OF THE GOETHE INSTITUTE’S WORK.

CONNECTING ARTISTS

In a period of hardened borders, restricted travel, and nationalist politics, forging these connections has been more challenging – and important - than ever. Working together with artists, we have explored and evolved several new strategies and practices that support creative collaboration and exchange, despite restricted mobility, resources and opportunities across the cultural and creative sectors. Exploring new modes of “togetherness”, we have developed hybrid formats like Voices. Europe which forge an artistic community across platforms, countries, and generations. Equally important is our engagement with artists and cultural activists facing political, social and economic threat. Through projects such as CROWD - International Dance Exchange, we provide space and infrastructural support for practitioners to think, work, and create.

CONNECTING ARTISTS

CROWD –– INTERNATIONAL DANCE EXCHANGE

CROWD IS THE GOETHEINSTITUT’S INTERNATIONAL DANCE RESIDENCY PROGRAMME DEVELOPED TOGETHER WITH EUROPEAN PARTNERS. In a time when we feel international sharing and human connection is needed more than ever. This research programme aims to support dance artists with an established practice in community engaged dance making.

Through a series of residencies in Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK, participating artists will have the opportunity to extend their professional network, work alongside peers to exchange and develop their individual and collective practice, while generating new knowledge in the area of community engagement in dance. The selected artists will work in two groups of three across 2021, coming together on three occasions in each of their home countries, hosted by one of the partners. Between residencies, the network of six artists and six partners as well as Goethe-Institut colleagues from across the region will come together digitally to explore common themes, hear from experts and develop a shared understanding of the practice of community engagement in dance.

goethe.de/uk/crowd

VOICES.EUROPE

IN THIS EXTRAORDINARY MUSIC AND EXCHANGE PROJECT, RUSSIAN-GERMAN COMPOSER MICHAEL LANGEMANN GIVES NEW VOICE TO THE GENERATION BORN AROUND 1945 IN ENGLAND, FRANCE AND ITALY. Inspired by interviews from the European Archive of Voices, Voices.Europe is a Europe-wide musical dialogue for amateur singers, choirs and other interested participants, and can be experienced in both digital and analogue format, on social media and in person.

CONNECTING ARTISTS

WITH THE PANDEMIC CHALLENGES OF ISOLATION, RESTRICTED MOVEMENT, AND SOCIAL DISTANCING IN MIND, LANGEMANN CREATED HIS COMPOSITION AS A SOUND EVENT CONSISTING OF FIVE MODULES IN VARIOUS LANGUAGES. These can be sung and recorded individually or in groups, live or in digital space, at home, at concerts, or outdoors. Over 180 singers from amateur choirs from Rome, London, and Paris have already come together to form individually adapted groups and created sound and video recordings of their interpretations. A team of artists has brought this ever-growing community choral work together from an audiovisual point of view. In doing so, they have created a collective transnational work of art that establishes numerous connections between people, cities, generations, professional groups, and lifestyles. Voices.Europe premiers in Rome 2021. The audiovisual performance will be presented at Ars Electronica Festival 2021.

goethe.de/voiceseurope

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, THE SEMANTIC WEB, BLOCKCHAINS AND CRYPTOCURRENCIES – EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT DIGITISATION, AND YET SOME SEMINAL NEW TECHNOLOGIES ARE UNKNOWN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES AND ARTS

With a view to boosting digital literacy in civil society, we start up projects about technologies that have the potential to transform society. We bring cultural values and critical perspectives into the debate and point up sociocultural, humanist and ethical aspects that should inform the ways in which we use and shape these developments.

FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES AND ARTS

DAOWO

THE DAOWO GLOBAL INITIATIVE FORGED A TRANSNATIONAL NETWORK OF ARTS AND BLOCKCHAIN COOPERATION BETWEEN LEADING CULTURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONS AND COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD. Initiated by the Goethe-Institut, together with Furtherfield and the Serpentine Galleries, the global collaboration set out to examine blockchain technologies’ potential for arts and civil society. Designed to activate collaboration across communities, disciplines and sectors, DAOWO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation With Others) programmes enabled participants to interrogate the benefits and pitfalls of blockchain developments from local perspectives. Events connected visionary artists, cultural workers and blockchain entrepreneurs, together with local initiatives, communities, institutions and businesses to seek new transnational systems and approaches.

THE DAOWO SESSIONS: ARTWORLD PROTOTYPES The DAOWO Sessions – Artworld Prototypes is a series of live online events bringing together cultural practitioners and representatives of arts and technology organisations and communities to share learning experiences and challenge the role of the arts in the emerging blockchain space. We are asking: how can DAOs learn from artists to interact with people and communities where they are?

goethe.de/daowo

FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES AND ARTS

ARTIFICIALLY CORRECT

ARTIFICIALLY CORRECT — ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, TRANSLATION, BIAS

Language defines the world. The Goethe-Institut stands for an inclusive language - and thus for an inclusive world. In Artificially Correct, we work with AI and language experts to develop a tool that minimises bias in translations. We want to strengthen the role of translators, encourage a conscious approach to translation machines, and include the reality of as many people as possible in these technologies. Specifically, Artificially Correct deals with AI-based translation tools and the biases (e.g. gender/racial bias) they generate. The program creates an active network of people affected by this problem translators, publishers, activists and experiential experts - and identifies partners who will pursue the issue with us in the long term. We bring together perspectives, create awareness, share knowledge and stimulate discussion.

goethe.de/artificiallycorrect

IMPRINT GOETHE-INSTITUT LONDON 50 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2PH Tel. +44 20 75964000 info-london@goethe.de www.goethe.de/london

DIRECTOR Dr Katharina von Ruckteschell-Katte katharina.von-ruckteschell-katte@goethe.de

ARTS & CULTURE Katrin Sohns katrin.sohns@goethe.de

LANGUAGE Andrea Pfeil andrea.pfeil@goethe.de

INFORMATION & LIBRARY Gosia Cabaj gosia.cabaj@goethe.de

EDITORIAL Katrin Sohns / Lorenz Weh / Celine Keuer Eliza Apperly www.elizaapperly.com

DESIGN Groupe Dejour www.groupe-dejour.de

Goethe-Institut London 50 Princes Gate Exhibition Road London SW7 2PH www.goethe.de/london