Past Projects

With our series “Future Libraries” we shed light on challenges, trends and examples of success around the future of the library.

In 2017, the Goethe-Institut London and the V&A have commissioned twelve international artists and designers to imagine what Europe might look like 2,000 years from now. How might our present be viewed from the future?

A joint project of several Goethe-Institutes bringing together comic artists and illustrators dealing with topics like immigration, stereotypes and prejudices about foreignness.

Eight students from the Ostkreuz School for Photography express their position on Brexit and give an insight into everyday life in Manchester.

German is the language of love – no-one would have agreed more than Queen Victoria when she fell head over heels with the Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Learn more about the relationship between the two, and why they communicated in German.

 

On the occasion of the European Cultural Heritage Year 2018, we are collecting European “heirlooms” – inventions and accomplishments created in European exchange – an tell their stories

Marxist ideas have played a role in film for more than 100 years, since Marx and his ideas are not just to be found in Germany and the world during the bicentennial year 2018. The self-test "How much Marx is in me?" provides facts for your opinion in this anniversary year.

Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus in 1919 – and in doing so revolutionised architecture, design and the way we think about it. What influence does this art school have today?

The debate on how Europe will move forward in these uncertain times.

Europe is more than a continent or an idea. Europe consists of many different stories – personal stories of people from different generations. The project “Tell me about Europe” brings the memories of well-known Europeans alive and invites you to listen and join in the discussion.

The generation of people born around 1945, from England, France and Italy, are the ones being given a voice in our music and exchange project about the past, present, and future of Europe. The Russian-German composer Michael Langemann has created this Europe-wide musical dialogue for amateur singers and choirs, and other interested people. Voices.Europe can be experienced in both digital and analogue form, on social media and in person.

Europe Talks invites people from all over Europe to engage in cross-border debates to tackle controversial topics such as immigration, the universal basic income and climate change. The project aims to use the power of conversation to create a space for dialogue and fight polarisation. For the 2021 edition we were hosting a discussion on Post-Brexit on our Seat #12 in our library.

The interactive art installation Disappearing Wall was set up across Europe between autumn 2020 and spring 2021. Built from 6,000 wooden blocks inscribed with quotes from European high and pop culture, the walls represented the diversity of the continent. Set up in Belfast and 15 other European cities, the pan-European project travelled through overall 10 countries, celebrating the European identity with all its facets of languages and ideas.

The 2020 winter season of new films from Germany. Online for the first time, the Glasgow based festival offered a wider distribution of stories between the real and the fictional.

17 film journalists from 14 countries and regions met in Berlin and presented their views on the Berlinale. As Berlinale bloggers they were looking for stories - on the screen and behind the scenes of the film festival, which celebrated its 70th birthday in 2020.

Each year in February the film world gathers in Berlin. Twelve bloggers and film journalists will present their takes on the 69th Berlinale for the Goethe-Institut.

A Europe-wide project of the Goethe-Institut asks what is our freedom based on and what endangers it.

Anti-liberal, nationalistic and populist movements are gathering momentum around the world.  Can democratic values be protected?

In global conversations between Budapest, Cairo, Brasilia, Nairobi, Moscow, Salzburg and Zurich we debate common narratives of populists in different countries: Has the “elite” really lost contact with the “people”? What does it really mean to take people’s fears seriously? What is hidden behind the phrase “You still have to be allowed to say that”?

How do we want to live? In view of skyrocketing rents and property prices in cities worldwide, this is not so easy to answer.

Privacy and data ownership in the digital age.

With populism and nationalism on the rise, Fabian Saul takes to the streets of Europe in search of traces of resistance. His method of choice: Ambling
 

Summer in Germany means barbecuing by the river, relaxing in the garden and eating ice cream. But who works while we relax?

Oldies, goldies, chart hits and rare gems - we are updating our Spotify playlist every month to satisfy your curiosity and awaken some more! Singing along misheard lyrics is highly recommended!

The European Songbook is a collection of songs that people associate with Europe. As diverse and melodic as Europe itself are the songs and the inhabitants' views about their continent.

A workshop series taking place over three years invites twelve theatre and festival directors from across four continents to reflect on the role of theatre in a rapidly changing world. Together they will work on practices that will enable change.

Many people would like to emerge from the pandemic with a different attitude to nature - one that values repair and protection, and addresses global exploitation and destruction. We have launched a series of artworks and collaborations on this topic. 

The Kultursymposium Weimar is a festival for new networks and ideas. Every two years, the Goethe-Institut invites over five hundred people from all over the world to come together in Weimar to attend the event. 

Two young climate activists exchange their views on different aspects of their engagement and give us an insight into their motivations and thoughts but also let us see their anger and frustration.

Talking Culture is a platform for thought-provoking discussions about the future of Europe, the UK, and the world. For episode 7, Natalie Taylor, Urban Radicals and Adam Harris talk together about their "SouthKenGreenTrail" installations, which aimed to bring greener infrastructure and more sustainability to London.

The project is an interdisciplinary research in the region of North-West Europe. Through hackathons, artistic research and a concluding symposium it explores the questions of how weather and climate change are experienced and how we communicate about them.