Johannes Ebert am 28. Mai 2022 in Berlin
Abschlussveranstaltung von "Lockdown-Lehren"

Grußwort von Johannes Ebert zur Abschlussveranstaltung von "Lockdown-Lehren" am 28.05.2022 im Kunstquartier Bethanien in Berlin

Dear guests, dear partners,

by looking at the streets and places in Berlin these days one could easily get the impression that COVID19 has disappeared. But while this impression might be similar in many countries around the world, the effects and consequences that this pandemic has had on a global range are still very much present and unequalled in recent years.

From democratic strategies to scientific certainties, from technological developments to social interactions, almost no sector and level of society was left unaffected. In many countries around the globe the consequences of COVID19 are still felt tremendously.

Right from the beginning of this crisis people started asking about the lessons to be learnt from the pandemic, about the changes that would be coming along with it. The Goethe-Institut, with its network in about hundred countries, has itself been affected very directly by the consequences of the pandemic. Nearly all institutes worldwide had to be closed to the public and although many programs and services shifted to the digital sphere it was a profound experience and a hard cut for the self-perception as an open and partner-focused cultural institution. But on the same time this multitude of local perspectives and perceptions allowed to initiate an intellectual exchange about the question of what lessons can we learn from this catastrophe with regard to social, technological, postcolonial and civil society concerns.

Culture, in the broad sense, can help as an initiator of possible changes of course in society. At a time when policymaking is mostly reacting to the impact of events as they unfold, culture can help by drawing outlines for the future, thereby focusing on the big picture in different areas of public life.
The project Lockdown Lessons covers five such areas, which were researched and investigated in separate modules. The implementation of the project took place at different places of the Goethe-Institute around the world. Artists, activists, experts and scientist participated in this process and produced extremely diverse content.

The module “Democracy” looked into the pandemic’s repercussions on systems of government in general and on the present state of democracy in particular. It asked how much solidarity is needed in times of crisis to keep societies from imploding into antagonistic camps. Contributions to this question came from India, Greece, Germany and the USA and formed a film series called “On the road to change”, available on the Goethe-Institut’s homepage.

The related aspect of agency and equality as a corrective to hierarchical structures and centralised control was covered in the module “Technological Change”. The Goethe-Institut has co-founded a transnational cooperation network in the arts and blockchain technologies called the Decentralised Autonomous Organisation With Others (DAOWO) programme. The members of the network are leading international art and technology institutions and communities in cities like Berlin, Hong Kong, Minsk, Moscow, Johannesburg and London. They all came together on the occasion of the online symposium “radical friends”, organized jointly by Goethe-Institut London and Haus der Kunst in Munich.

Under the lead of the Goethe-Institut Brussels the module “Science and Research” asked why the reaction to the pandemic was rather rapid and robust, compared to the sluggish response to climate change.

“Constellations for futures”, a three days festival organized by Goethe-Institut Brussels in December 2021 featured scientific talks, film screenings and art performances at the intersection of ecology, community and science.

The module “Creative Industries”, for its part, explored new opportunities and presented innovative products and solutions from the African continent in reaction to the pandemic. A physical gathering in Namibia brought together a very diverse range of experts and creative entrepreneurs, coming from many African countries.

Finally, the module “Proximity and Distance” addressed socially critical questions in Brazil, India, Korea and Germany, with the main focus point on the future: How close to others can we be, and how close do we want to be? Coordinated by the Goethe-Institut in New Delhi this module aimed to explore these questions in Brazil, Korea, India and Germany.

The final presentation you are about to witness today brings together all these different perspectives and highlights the most important findings of each module. While the first panel will address the question of the lessons to be learnt from crises the second will look more specifically at the possibilities of decentralized strategies for art and activism.

I am very grateful to the different guests, moderators and partners of Goethe-Institut present here today, be it in person or digitally. Your specific expertise and points of view are essential for our understanding of global discourses. As Goethe-Institut we are working in very diverse cultural contexts and democratic systems. The complexity of cultural work has grown dramatically, the war in Ukraine has shown that there is no certainty for democratic achievements.

One of the most important consequences for our work has been that our partners have become even more important for us, both abroad and in Germany.

My sincere thank you therefore as well to our main partner of today, the CTM-Festival, with whom we share a long-time cooperation. And to all our colleagues at the Goethe-Institutes abroad who prepared the content of the different modules.

Thank you!