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http://www.petitiononline.com/goethe07/petition.html
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Letter from Elle Flanders
Dear Secretary General Dr. Hans-Georg Knopp,
It is with great sadness that I have learned of the closing of the Goethe cultural facilities in Toronto. I am a Toronto based artist and have had the very great privilege of having my work shown at the Goethe Institute in Toronto, Ramallah, Palestine and New York. I have also screened my work at the Berlinale on many occasions, with much of the credit owing to the introductions made here at the Toronto Goethe cultural facility. Recently, when I was showing work in Palestine, I heard of the potential closing of the Toronto cultural facilities and library. It was related to me that the Goethe had a ‘new direction and focus’ on developing countries where you thought the dissemination of German culture would be more significant. I cannot tell you enough how wrong this move is!
While I am happy that there will be other countries receiving the good work of the Goethe Institute, I cannot emphasize enough what the Goethe in Toronto has done for the cultural landscape. I suppose being so far away in Berlin does not always allow for a full view of the enormous impact that the Goethe has had here in Toronto.
I have also come to understand that each institution is only as good as the people who work there. I was shocked to find for instance, that the New York Goethe was so badly attended and frankly, programmed. We have been blessed in Toronto with a very dedicated and brilliant team, one that has taught us to appreciate the diversity of German cultural production and has broadened our horizons about German culture in general which in turn has taught us as artists and citizens a great deal. The Goethe in Toronto has created an incredible basis for exchange between our countries and cities and has given many Canadian artists the opportunity to forge relationships with with, work with and bring our own production to Germany. It may not have occurred to you, but despite Toronto’s claim to internationalism, it has been in fact quite a provincial city in relation to arts and culture until recently. While we now play a more significant role in the production and dissemination on the global scene, it has been the Goethe Institute here in Toronto which has been a prime-mover to opening the doors to not only German culture but to Europe and beyond, and it has been the work of the people here in Toronto who have changed forever our cultural landscape.
I have recently returned to Toronto to learn that this decision has indeed been made to close the library, gallery and theatre facilities, and as a community we have not even had the opportunity to express our opinion about such a grave loss. We did not have time to contact the director or anyone else at the institute as it seems it was a unilateral decision with no community consultation. There was a press release that did not circulate (it was only made a available at the Goethe within the last week with no attention drawn to it), and I can assure you had we been aware of this sooner, you would have heard from hundreds, perhaps thousands of us who are affected by this decision.
I fear that your decision to close the cultural facilities that are available here now is a grave and short-sighted error. While working in the developing countries is important, it is also important to continue the relationships culturally and otherwise that have been started in stable countries such as Canada. I believe this is the underpinning of the Goethe Institute and what you can use as an example for future institutions.
While there have been promises made that the Goethe will continue it’s cultural work in partnership with other Canadian cultural organizations, I can assure you that this is a watered-down and much less effective way to disseminate German culture here in Canada. There will be less initiative, less programming and ultimately less collaboration without a ‘home’, and what we have come to know here as the place in which some of the most cutting-edge, fascinating, erudite and impeccable culture has come to pass. If only you could know the impact it has had.
I hope this note reaches you and allows for some reconsideration of this closure and your general plans for the future. I understand that I am only one artist in a vast landscape of bureaucracy, financing and many other concerns, but I hope to at least add a voice, and I know I speak for the hundreds of artists who have performed in this space over the years, and as one of thousands who have sat in the audiences. I urge you to consider what an enormous loss this is and that goes against what I have always understood the Goethe’s mission to be. You have one of the finest institutes in the world in which you have understood well that culture can change lives, but it is not only the developing world that needs to benefit from your mission, we here in Canada still need the benefit of this exchange and I truly hope you will consider some of my words and the countless other artists who are affected by this.
Sincerely yours,
Elle Flanders
-------
Elle Flanders
Graphic Pictures
o˚of Separation
www.graphicpictures.org
It is with great sadness that I have learned of the closing of the Goethe cultural facilities in Toronto. I am a Toronto based artist and have had the very great privilege of having my work shown at the Goethe Institute in Toronto, Ramallah, Palestine and New York. I have also screened my work at the Berlinale on many occasions, with much of the credit owing to the introductions made here at the Toronto Goethe cultural facility. Recently, when I was showing work in Palestine, I heard of the potential closing of the Toronto cultural facilities and library. It was related to me that the Goethe had a ‘new direction and focus’ on developing countries where you thought the dissemination of German culture would be more significant. I cannot tell you enough how wrong this move is!
While I am happy that there will be other countries receiving the good work of the Goethe Institute, I cannot emphasize enough what the Goethe in Toronto has done for the cultural landscape. I suppose being so far away in Berlin does not always allow for a full view of the enormous impact that the Goethe has had here in Toronto.
I have also come to understand that each institution is only as good as the people who work there. I was shocked to find for instance, that the New York Goethe was so badly attended and frankly, programmed. We have been blessed in Toronto with a very dedicated and brilliant team, one that has taught us to appreciate the diversity of German cultural production and has broadened our horizons about German culture in general which in turn has taught us as artists and citizens a great deal. The Goethe in Toronto has created an incredible basis for exchange between our countries and cities and has given many Canadian artists the opportunity to forge relationships with with, work with and bring our own production to Germany. It may not have occurred to you, but despite Toronto’s claim to internationalism, it has been in fact quite a provincial city in relation to arts and culture until recently. While we now play a more significant role in the production and dissemination on the global scene, it has been the Goethe Institute here in Toronto which has been a prime-mover to opening the doors to not only German culture but to Europe and beyond, and it has been the work of the people here in Toronto who have changed forever our cultural landscape.
I have recently returned to Toronto to learn that this decision has indeed been made to close the library, gallery and theatre facilities, and as a community we have not even had the opportunity to express our opinion about such a grave loss. We did not have time to contact the director or anyone else at the institute as it seems it was a unilateral decision with no community consultation. There was a press release that did not circulate (it was only made a available at the Goethe within the last week with no attention drawn to it), and I can assure you had we been aware of this sooner, you would have heard from hundreds, perhaps thousands of us who are affected by this decision.
I fear that your decision to close the cultural facilities that are available here now is a grave and short-sighted error. While working in the developing countries is important, it is also important to continue the relationships culturally and otherwise that have been started in stable countries such as Canada. I believe this is the underpinning of the Goethe Institute and what you can use as an example for future institutions.
While there have been promises made that the Goethe will continue it’s cultural work in partnership with other Canadian cultural organizations, I can assure you that this is a watered-down and much less effective way to disseminate German culture here in Canada. There will be less initiative, less programming and ultimately less collaboration without a ‘home’, and what we have come to know here as the place in which some of the most cutting-edge, fascinating, erudite and impeccable culture has come to pass. If only you could know the impact it has had.
I hope this note reaches you and allows for some reconsideration of this closure and your general plans for the future. I understand that I am only one artist in a vast landscape of bureaucracy, financing and many other concerns, but I hope to at least add a voice, and I know I speak for the hundreds of artists who have performed in this space over the years, and as one of thousands who have sat in the audiences. I urge you to consider what an enormous loss this is and that goes against what I have always understood the Goethe’s mission to be. You have one of the finest institutes in the world in which you have understood well that culture can change lives, but it is not only the developing world that needs to benefit from your mission, we here in Canada still need the benefit of this exchange and I truly hope you will consider some of my words and the countless other artists who are affected by this.
Sincerely yours,
Elle Flanders
-------
Elle Flanders
Graphic Pictures
o˚of Separation
www.graphicpictures.org
Save Kinowelt Hall @ Goethe-Institut Toronto
This site is a source for information and response to the recent announcement that the Goethe- Institut is closing the cinema, gallery and library at the Toronto Goethe-Institut effective 30 June 2007.
This is a community response.
We will not sit idly by while another vital cultural venue in Toronto is closed.
The Kinowelt Hall, Gallery and Library have been the source of important cultural presentations and collaborations for many years. The potential loss of this venue will not be accepted.
Toronto needs a multitude of spaces such as this, but in recent years we have lost many.
This site and community response is an urging to the Director of the Goethe-Institut Toronto the Regional Director for North America in New York and the Directors and the head office of the Goethe-Institut in Munich, Germany to keep this venue open.
This is a community response.
We will not sit idly by while another vital cultural venue in Toronto is closed.
The Kinowelt Hall, Gallery and Library have been the source of important cultural presentations and collaborations for many years. The potential loss of this venue will not be accepted.
Toronto needs a multitude of spaces such as this, but in recent years we have lost many.
This site and community response is an urging to the Director of the Goethe-Institut Toronto the Regional Director for North America in New York and the Directors and the head office of the Goethe-Institut in Munich, Germany to keep this venue open.
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