The Goethe Institut is going all out to celebrate its 50th year in India

The Goethe Institut at Max Mueller Bhavan is leaving no stone unturned to celebrate its 50th anniversary in India. And what better way to kick off the revelry than with a music merger between India and Germany.

The institute is holding a concert combining the music of Ensemble Modern, a group of seven German musicians, Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan at the Tata Theatre, NCPA, on November 11. “This is not a spontaneous collaboration,” says director of Goethe Institut, Mumbai, Marla Stukenberg. “Since 2002, these musicians have been putting in a lot of effort to combine Indian and western compositions.”

The celebrations will be flagged off by Dr Klaus Dieter Lehmann, president of Goethe Institut, who will be flying down for the occasion. Goethe has six branches in India with the one in Delhi completing 50 years this month. Goethe, Mumbai will be celebrating its 40th birthday.

Coincidentally, the event also coincides with the 20th year of the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany. “That’s why we wish to go the whole hog with the celebrations,” says Stukenberg.

Accordingly, many of the events organised are mired in developments in recent German history. “We’re holding a seminar by Prof

Andreas Roeder, a well-known German

Philosophy professor who will talk about the political developments leading to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. We’re also screening some films that will throw light on the political history of Germany,” says Stukenberg. Also in the pipeline is an evening of musical extravaganza on November 22 when several German musicians will be performing and a series of lectures on Max Mueller in December.

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