VON DER KRAFT DER KULTUR

Talk with the winners of the Goethe Medal 2023

The Goethe Institut has presented the Goethe Medal in Weimar annually since 1955 as one of the Feder- al Republic of Germany’s official honours. The most prestigious prize in German cultural policy relations is awarded to individuals who have made an outstand- ing contribution to international cultural exchange and the advancement of the German language. This year the Goethe Medal is awarded to the film manag- er Gaga Chkheidze from Georgia, the curator Yi-Wei Keng from Taiwan and the curatorial collective of the OFF-Biennale from Hungary, represented in Weimar by two of its members, Hajnalka Somogyi and Nikolett Erőss. All winners are committed to using art, theatre and film as means of preserving freedom and promoting democratic processes in their native countries. In doing so, they each face similarly challenging con- texts, marked by nationalism, repression and increas- ing state control or censorship – even if this does not always originate in their own country. In conversation with the Chair of the Goethe Medal Commission, the curator Thomas Oberender, the award-winners will present their work at Kunstfest Weimar and discuss the power of culture at a time when freedom is increasingly restricted.