German Theater

Custom Culture: "Act II – Systematically Relevant?"

Are arts and culture of systematic importance and therefore worthy of support during times of crisis? Lena Kuhnt, Cultural Programs Curator at the Goethe-Institut Washington, explores how a misleading definition of the term results in disastrous conditions for Germany’s arts and culture scene.

Virtual Discussion | Thursday, August 20, 5:00pm EDT

Design for Everyone: An Intro to Design Justice

Join us for the third program in Design for Everyone, a lecture series that seeks to open up conversations about design to broader, more diverse audiences. Produced by Form Function Studio in partnership with Goethe-Institut and DC Public Library.

Learn what the practice of design justice encompasses from the perspectives of architecture and graphic design. Speakers will be Bryan Lee – Design Principal of COLLOQATE and a national Design Justice Advocate – and graphic designer, curator, and educator Jerome Harris.

Virtual Discussion | Wednesday, August 26, 12:00pm PDT

"Radical Diversity" Kickoff: Los Angeles

Max Czollek (“De-integrate Yourselves”) and Mohamed Amjahid (“Among Whites: What It Means to Be Privileged”) are two Millennial generation voices that have emerged from Germany in recent years. Both address topics of diversity and related themes in their work and research – sometimes very differently, sometimes in astoundingly similar ways. With a critical, multidimensional approach, Czollek and Amjahid will examine the challenges faced by German and North American societies, as well as various visions for progress, by discussing them with experts in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

The kick-off of this event series will be streamed virtually from the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles, where Mohamed Amjahid and Max Czollek will discuss political activism and diversity with Priscilla Layne, one of the pioneers of Black German Studies and a Professor of German and African American Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Goethe Book Club | Fall 2020

Goethe Book Club: Fall 2020

This fall, our Goethe Book Club continues virtually, led by Dr. Amanada Sheffer of The Catholic University of America. In August, we kicked off the fall semester with Volker Kutscher's Babylon Berlin. In November, we'll be taking things in a different direction with Daniel Kehlmann's Tyll – a "a transfixing retelling of the German myth of Tyll Ulenspiegel: a story about the devastation of war and a beguiling artist’s decision never to die" (Penguin Random House, 2020). In December, we'll turn over a new leaf by reading Mortal Mischief / A Death In Vienna by Frank Tallis, a novel that was originally written and published in English, but has crossed over into popularity among German-language readers – especially after the advent of its British-Austrian television adaptation, Vienna Blood.

Queer As German Folk

Queer As German Folk Goes Digital: Films & Digital Events

Queer as German Folk has now been converted into a compact digital experience. This new format allows visitors to experience the queer movement past and present from anywhere in the world – furthering the project’s goals of maximum accessibility. Audiovisual, moving, and interactive forms of presentation provide visitors with an exciting, structureless experience that is simple to navigate and is accessible across a range of devices in both English and German. Check it out now!

After you're finished exploring the digital exhibit, take a look at the terrific virtual film series available into September, and add a few titles to your watch list.

FEHLER: India's Sense of Time - Three Bidis Away

How we measure time determines who we are as a society but perhaps it is an illusion, a Western conceit, that time can and should be controlled. Who is happier — the commuter who hates surprises and is infuriated by a train running two minutes late, or the suppliant who knows that life is pointless but that you must keep going anyway?