Chat Debate
Musicians who intentionally hit the wrong note, artists who embrace the unexpected, clueless tourists – we bring experts from around the world together to chat about innocent blunders and unforgivable faux pas in the arts, society, and the humanities. These conversations highlight how simple mistakes often contain a little bit of magic. Find out more about the power of mistakes in our chat debates.
Discussions
Experts
Grégoire Boucher
lives in Montréal and works as a tour guide, organizing trips for students and teachers from all over Canada and the United States.
Grégoire’s contribution: “Treat the country like your grandmother’s house”
Tom DiCillo
is an US-American film director and cinematographer, best known for his movies Johnny Suede and Living in Oblivion.
Tom’s contribution: “I think mistakes are divine”
Emanuelle Dufour
is a drawing-anthropologist based in Montréal, working in the fields of Indigenous education, diversity, and inclusion.
Emanuelle’s contribution: “I like to be a choreographer of mistakes”
Charlotte Greve
is an alto saxophonist from Hamburg. Based in New York for several years now, she plays mostly jazz.
Charlotte’s contribution: “Mistakes are allies, not adversaries”
Amitesh Grover
is a performer, director, writer, and curator based in New Delhi. His works are shown internationally in theaters, galleries, public spaces, and on the internet.
Amitesh’s contribution: “I like to be a choreographer of mistakes”
Hal Hartley
is an American film director and producer who is best known for his independent films, such as Henry Fool or The Book of Life.
Hal’s contribution: “I think mistakes are divine”
Frank Hissenkaemper
has been a captain in the Hamburg pilot fleet since 2006.
Frank’s contribution: “Sometimes scapegoats get fired”
Andi Hörmann
is a Munich-based radio journalist who works for Deutschlandfunk and other broadcasters.
Andi’s contribution: “Mistakes are allies, not adversaries”
Verena Hütter
has been interested in irritations and deviations in otherwise flawless, symmetrical series since her studies at the Arts Academy in Karlsruhe and loves offbeat observations. At the moment, she is working in Washington, DC as the director of communications for the Goethe-Institut in North America.
Verena’s contributions: “I like to be a choreographer of mistakes”, Placed in Hot Water, Packaging and All
Christopher Kloeble
is a writer and professor and lives in Berlin and New Delhi.
Christopher’s contribution: “Treat the country like your grandmother’s house”
Michael Krell
Having the courage to leave things incomplete, half-correct tax forms, and a preference for offbeat tones were the main arguments for his recently accepted application to the FEHLER team. Otherwise in his non-free time, he strives to avoid errors and limit damage as Online Editor at the Goethe-Institut Montreal.
Michael’s contribution: “Sometimes scapegoats get fired”, The Peter Principle
Anya Malhotra
has been working as a freelance conference interpreter and translator for over 25 years. She grew up trilingually (English, German, and Hindi) and lives in her hometown Delhi.
Anya’s contribution: “Sometimes scapegoats get fired”
Markus Mehr
is an experimental composer, musician, and producer from Augsburg.
Markus’s contribution: “Mistakes are allies, not adversaries”
Afsha Shaik
is a freelance tour manager in India. She has also worked as a yoga teacher, drama teacher, and for numerous NGOs in India.
Afsha’s contribution: “Treat the country like your grandmother’s house”
Andreas Ströhl
is the director of the Goethe-Institut Washington and the regional director of North America.
Andreas’s contribution: “I think mistakes are divine”