Eliphas Nyamogo first worked as a German teacher, then later as head of Information and Library Services at the Goethe-Institut Nairobi. Today he works in the Munich headquarters as head of Online Editorial Services.
“The opportunity to learn about different cultures and interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds is invaluable. These encounters with people from all over the world allow me to quench my thirst for knowledge and integrate new experiences into my daily work. Before I began working at the Goethe-Institut Nairobi and at our Munich headquarters, I was fortunate enough to complete part of my studies abroad, and that had a tremendous impact on my worldview as a young man.”
Photo: private
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Sabine Hentzsch has worked for the Goethe-Institut in Munich, Mannheim, Manila, Göttingen, Accra, Rotterdam, Bucharest and London. She currently heads the Institut in La Paz.
“What I have enjoyed most about working in different places is the variety; even as my experience grows, every country is a new adventure, every culture comes with its own challenges. Assignments in countries like Ghana and Bolivia have made me more aware of what racism and discrimination mean and why Eurocentrism is not the answer. In countries like the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Romania, coming to terms with the past, both our own and that of the host countries, was the challenge, important work that can never truly be completed.”
Photo: Freddy Huanca Mamani
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Melanie Bono’s first contact with the Goethe-Institut was as a freelance curator. After working in Munich and London, she is currently responsible for the cultural programme at the Goethe-Institut Korea.
“The biggest attraction for me is not being in a place like London or Seoul as a visitor, but actually living there. Working abroad brings a whole host of new perspectives and impressions, and it’s a privilege to meet so many interesting people as well. We live in an increasingly digital and media-mediated world that often makes us feel like we know a lot quite well. Being on location really puts this knowledge to the test. Working on projects together creates a framework in which people get to know each other really well and exchange ideas.”
Photo: Loredana la Rocca
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Mona Kriegler has worked at the Goethe-Institut in London and has headed up the Institut in Ramallah since 2017. In January 2022, she will be moving to the Goethe-Institut Myanmar.
“What is significant for me is the ever-expanding capacity for reflection. The only way to get there is through many, diverse encounters – the presence of the other. Through conversations and pleasant interactions, negotiation and discourse, we can initiate, activate and continually allow exchange to grow. The challenge of this work will always be an ethical one for me: to do meaningful, relevant work in a particular context, characterised by recognition, acceptance and active listening.”
Photo: Darine Lama
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Mechtild Manus began working for the Goethe-Institut in Portugal in 1987. Placements in Egypt, Indonesia, Canada, Ireland and South Africa followed.
“One great privilege of my work has been coming in such close contact with artists and intellectuals in these countries, and enjoying their trust. I’ve learned so much! In the very different places I worked, I’ve been able to hang out, watch and listen, and look for the points of contact for artistic collaboration, for political debate. From the very start, I supported co-productions and residencies, especially in contemporary dance, because exchange works best with active collaboration. Climate change has taught us that humanity’s greatest problems require not just political, but also social and cultural solutions. This is where the Goethe-Institut comes in. Participation projects are especially well-suited to giving citizens a stage and a voice.”
Photo: private
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Starting in 1981, Uwe Schmelter worked for the Goethe-Institut in Munich, Passau, Schwäbisch Hall, Manila, Copenhagen, and Seoul. Before retiring, he headed the Goethe-Institut Japan until 2010.
“As a child, my father’s work gave me the first experiences of foreign cultures. As a student (1964-1975), I toured Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand as a musician with my Bonn orchestra. This experience strengthened my resolve to work in the foreign cultural policy field. The greatest challenge I faced as a representative of the young, post-war generation from a Germany divided by war and right at the heart of the crisis of the Cold War, was to use the political means of international cultural cooperation to actively contribute to the necessary dialogue, to rapprochement and reconciliation among different societies, cultures, in dictatorships, in young and established democracies. Through active and inclusive immersion, always based on partnership, into unusual, courageous projects that went ‘against the grain’, all the places I’ve worked have helped me constantly expand my analytical skills, become a cultural-political mediator and expert based on trust and experience. Currently in the cultural and educational policy field, and hopefully for the rest of a very long life.”
Photo: private
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