50 Years of Goethe Institut in the Philippines
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(© Goethe Institut Philippinen)
On April 7, 2011, Goethe Institut Philippinen celebrated its half decade anniversary in the Philippines highlighting the affair with various cultural activities held within its premises in Makati City.
German Ambassador Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch, and Goethe Institut Philippinen Director Richard Künzel were on hand to welcome guests who graced the celebrations, that included diplomats, businessmen, artists, and members of the academe.
The celebrations began in the afternoon with a round table discussion on the roles of international institutions and art communities in the Philippines. Moderated by Jay Cruz, the interesting exchange which was actively participated in by local artists such as Myra Beltran, Teddy Co, Jag Garcia, Claro Ramirez, and representatives of foreign cultural institutions, including Cultural Attaché Flora Geley of the French Embassy, Mr. José Fons of Instituto Cervantes, and Mr. Shuji Takatori, Director of the Japan Foundation.
“A German sponsored, but home-grown institution” is how Ambassador Weber-Lortsch describes the Goethe Institut. During the formal opening program, Ambassador Weber-Lortsch underscored the importance of cultural diplomacy and how it serves as “the human factor (in international relations), connecting people to people, beyond the traditional government to government pattern”. For instance, Rizal and Goethe exemplified this principle by blending their works with foreign experiences.
The German language ranks among the ten most widely spoken in the world - with 120 million mother tongue speakers and 17 million foreign students. With its main function of providing language instruction, Ambassador Weber-Lortsch gave special recognition to the Goethe Institut for opening the doors for countless students to find better jobs and opportunities for the past 50 years.
He also lauded the Institute for its significant role in cultivating the long and rich cultural history of German-Philippine relations through its various programs that have already engaged and continue to engage generations of German and Filipino artists. Philippine national hero Dr. José Rizal, a pioneering figure in German-Philippine relations, continues to play a particular role in this relationship.
Rizal’s novels “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” and his poem “Mi Ultimo Adios”, as well as “Guillermo Tell”, the Tagalog translation of the play “Wilhelm Tell” by Friedrich Schiller are being restored by experts from the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach (German Literature Archive in Marbach, Germany). Together with National Library Director Antonio Santos, the Ambassador announced that the restored manuscripts will be presented to the public at the occasion of José Rizal's 150th birthday in June of this year.
Dr. Künzel for his part disclosed to the guests that a special commemorative stamp depicting Goethe Institut's 50 years in the Philippines and Dr. Rizal's 150th birth anniversary will be printed by the Philippine Postal Corporation also in time for the national hero's birth anniversary.
After the opening program, the celebrations continued with an interpretation of Jose Rizal’s liberettas featuring Dr. Raul Sunico, President of the Cultural Centre of the Philippines on piano, and soprano Naomi Paz Sison.
Novo Concertante, an acapella choir currently gaining popularity continued to entertain guests well into the night.
The celebration ended with the presentation of three documentary films - Nawruz Paguidopon’s As Told by Butterflies, Emmerson Reyes’ Neo-Rebolusyon, and Ej Mijares’ Entablado - all products of the 2010 Documentary Filmmaking Workshop organized by the Goethe-Institut together with the National Council for Culture and Arts, Independent Film Corp., and De La Salle-College of Saint-Benilde.
And in the words of Ambassador Weber-Lortsch, he embodied the Goethe Institut as not only a showcase of contemporary German life and people nor just a platform of exchange, but also “one that provides an 'experiemental laboratory' for more artists visualizing their dreams and pushing beyond the limits of conventional rules.”
