Press Invitation

Yangon, 28.01.2014

Opening of the Goethe Institute in Myanmar

A German-Burmese Culture Week in Yangon Invitation to a Press Conference on 4 February 2014, 11:30
Address: Ko Min Ko Chin Road Nr. 8, Bahan District, Yangon

On 11 February 2014 the President of the Federal Republic of Germany Joachim Gauck and the President of the Goethe-Institut Klaus-Dieter Lehmann will celebrate the inauguration of the GoetheInstitut Myanmar. The Goethe-Institut is the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany and is active worldwide. It promotes the dissemination of German language and culture abroad and encourages intercultural exchange. The new centre in Myanmar is the 150th Goethe-Institut in the world. In order to strengthen cultural ties between Germany and Myanmar, a cultural agreement between the two countries was signed in July 2013. This paved the way for the re-establishment of the Goethe-Institut, which since 1962 was no longer present in Myanmar. The founding director of the new Goethe-Institut, Franz Xaver Augustin, and his team were given a temporary home at the French Cultural Centre and commenced work at the beginning of January 2014. During the week of the opening, a series of major Burmese-German cultural exchange programs will take place. In order to introduce this program to you, we invite you to a press conference in the future building of the German cultural institute, which has been offered for our use by the government of Myanmar. It is the prestigious and historic house in Ko Min Ko Chin Road No. 8, in which Gen Aung San as chairman of the AFPFL in the 1940s had his office. The villa will be thoroughly renovated over the next two years at German expense. We will be very pleased to welcome your participation at our press conference. Sincerely, Franz Xaver Augustin Director, Goethe-Institut Myanmar

Press Contact: Mandy Fox fox@yangon.goethe.org

Guest speakers at the press conference:

Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch German Ambassador in Myanmar Franz Xaver Augustin Director, Goethe-Institut Myanmar Aung Ko Installation artist (Yangon) Tim Isfort Jazz musician, Myanmar meets Europe Project (Duisburg Germany) Hnin Ei Hlaing (Snow) Yangon Film School Production Manager and Filmmaker (Yangon) Lin Htet Director, Theatre of the Disturbed (Yangon/Paris)

The guest speakers will be available for interviews following the press conference. We also look forward to meeting you personally at a luncheon following the press conference.

Cultural Programme 9 18 February 2014

9 February 2014, 19:00:

MYANMAR MEETS EUROPE - Hein Tint's Burmese Hsaing Waing ensemble, together with the European jazz group led by Tim Isfort, plays on stage in front of the French Institute SASHA WALTZ, one of Germanys most famous contemporary dance choreographers, performs her internationally successful piece TRAVELOGUE I - TWENTY TO EIGHT with her company "Sasha Waltz&Guests" at the National Theatre Yangon. ! Opening of the ART EXHIBITION 3+1! ART EXHIBITION 3+1 in the new Goethe-Haus with an object and video installation by the Burmese artist AUNG KO titled IN TRANSIT a photo exhibition by the German landscape photographer HANS-CHRISTIAN SCHINK The Myanmar Project - Work in Progress a group photo exhibition by young Burmese artists from the NEW ZERO ART SPACE on the topic What is democracy for you? a series of short films from the YANGON FILM SCHOOL

11 & 13 February 2014, 19:00:

!
12 February 2014, 18:00:

12 - 18 February 2014! 10:00 18:00:

Press Contact: Mandy Fox fox@yangon.goethe.org