Goethe-Institut: Co-operation and Communication

At the Goethe-Institut, co-operation and communication are at the heart of our work. To give but a few examples, actors from the Democrazy Theatre Studio Bangkok and the Badische Staatstheater Karlsruhe joined forces this year to investigate the themes of love, desire and money in German-Thai relationships. They staged their joint-production in Bangkok, Chon Buri, Karlsruhe and Bern. Further performances will take place at the 2017 Open World Festival in Ludwigshafen. Another example is the IKAT/e-cut project. Its Green Cycles symposium presented creative ideas for a more sustainable production of textiles. Thereafter, young Asean fashion designers enjoyed a week of instruction and exchange of ideas with the team of the Berlin fashion studio Elektrocouture. Their fashion creations will be presented to the public in Bangkok in November. Some have already been invited to show their work in Germany. The bringing together of artists and experts in the most varied of areas, looks back on a long tradition and has proved a source of enrichment for both Germany and Thailand.

Every week 1,200 Thais come to the Goethe-Institut in Bangkok with a common goal: to learn to communicate in German. Their reasons are varied. Some want to live in Germany. Others plan to become one of the 1000 Thai students currently pursuing a course of further studies in Germany. Others want to teach or research at Thai universities which together enjoy almost 200 co-operation agreements with German universities. Many wish to work in companies which account for a Thai-German trade volume of 11 billion US Dollars.