Goethe-Institut is offering a range of programmes and facilities online during the lockdown.

Says Maureen Gonsalves, Cultural Coordinator, Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan, “One of our major activities are the German language courses, which went online almost immediately after the lockdown was announced. Currently, 35 to 40 courses are being taught online. The new semester starts in May and for the first time in India, it will be fully online from the elementary level, A1, to the advanced level which is C1. However, youth courses and special courses will not be offered right now. The teachers have been training for this. So, the courses will be as per our international standards.”

Goethe on Demand

Apart from the online media section which is already there, Goethe on Demand has been introduced. “Under it, in cooperation with Filmgalerie 451, an eclectic collection of films can be streamed and watched till June 30. All you need to do is write to us at residency-bangalore@goethe.de with the subject line Goethe on Demand and get the password. We also have our regular film archive catalogue. Register for free or log in at mein.goethe.de to start streaming.”

Maureen adds, “The institute in Kolkata was planning to screen a powerful documentary called Muhi: Generally Temporary (2017) and hold an interaction with the filmmakers. Now, that will be online, including the interaction. All the institutes will offer that on April 22. Another thing is that on our central website, our head office has invited responses and perspectives on the current crisis from artists, curators and decision-makers from all over the world. From Bangalore, we invited three of our writer partners to write an article and that will be posted online.”

Cultural calender

She adds, “The head office has also set up a digital platform called Kulturama. It is a global cultural calendar where our cultural partners from all over the world can enter their events. It is free of cost to enter the event and the calendar can be accessed from anywhere. It is basically a platform to initiate support for artists. If any organiser wants to put a link to a website where one can donate, that is also allowed.”

There will also be other events that will be curated every week and which will be updated on https://www.goethe.de/ins/in/en/sta/ban.html.