Goethe-Institut im Exil

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Goethe-Institut im Exil

Begegnungsort, Schutzraum und Bühne für Kulturschaffende, die in ihrer Heimat nicht arbeiten können. Aufgrund der Sicherheitslage ist es seit 2012 geschlossen.

Das Goethe-Institut Damaskus, eröffnet im Jahr 1955, war eines der ersten Institute weltweit. Viele Menschen mussten das Land verlassen und befinden sich nun in Europa im Exil. Um ein Zeichen zu setzen, wird das Goethe-Institut in Berlin einen symbolischen Ort der kulturellen Begegnung schaffen: das „Goethe-Institut Damaskus | Im Exil“. Vom 20. Oktober bis 5. November 2016 werden hier Diskussionen

, Workshops, Filmreihen, Installationen, Ausstellungen, Konzerte und Performances stattfinden.

12/09/2025

📚✨ FILLING IN THE BLANKS: MERET WEBER ✨
Join us for the next session of our monthly reading group curated and moderated by () & Tanasgol Sabbagh (), exploring the language of resistance, identity, and imagination.

📚 This month, we’re excited to welcome Meret Weber ()— journalist, author, and scholar of African and political studies — as our guest. Together, we’ll dive into crucial texts that shape (post-)colonial, abolitionist, Q***r, and Feminist discourse.

This session’s readings reflect on the psychological and political legacies of colonial violence, the complexities of postcolonial critique, and the concrete stakes of decolonization beyond metaphor.

🗓 SEPTEMBER 30, 2025
⏰ 6–9 PM
📍 ACUD Studio, Berlin
🌍 Language of this session: German
🎟 Free with registration | ⚠️ Limited spots — register early!

This is a space to read, listen, reflect, and share—to ask: Do we really mean the same thing when we use the same words?
Reading the text is encouraged, but not required. Let’s fill in the blanks—together.

📩 Register by email: [email protected]
Subject: Registration Reading Group
***rStudies

10/09/2025

LISTEN TO HEKMA YAGOUB at the 25th internationales literaturfestival berlin ()!

Sudanese poet and human rights activist Hekma Yagoub () shares her searing texts on colonial myths and patriarchal violence. A compelling voice of exile in the Room of Silence – part of this year’s Wandering Readings at the 25th ilb.

📝 Sept 15 | 7:15–8:30 PM
📍 Room of Silence (Raum der Stille), Dokumentationszentrum Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung (), Stresemannstraße 90, 10963 Berlin
🎟️ Tickets: 18 € / 12 € reduced

Hekma Yagoub is a Sudanese feminist human rights lawyer, writer, and researcher based in Glasgow, UK, where she studied Human Rights Law at the University of Strathclyde. She founded a legal aid centre in Sudan to confront state violence and defend those criminalized by war, dictatorship, and patriarchy.

From the cells of Khartoum’s prisons to the displacement camps of Darfur, her legal work has amplified the voices of the brutalized and silenced. For over a decade, she has fought for justice and accountability, documenting violations and challenging impunity alongside affected communities.

Her writing—published in Madameek, Al-Baeed, and other critical platforms—confronts the myths of colonial legacies and repressive regimes, blending legal analysis with radical feminist thought.
Bilingual in Arabic and English, Hekma treats language as a space of resistance—reclaiming narrative power to honour memory, challenge violence, and imagine liberation.

📚 Also reading: Volha Hapeyeva, Ahmed Awny, Mazda Mehrgan, Ali Alzaeem, Mariia Kaziun & Yasser Niksada

We warmly invite you to an evening charged with memory and defiance.

🤝 In cooperation with Körber-Stiftung (), Dokumentationszentrum Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung, and supported by Goethe-Institut in Exile, The Poetry Project e.V. (.berlin) & Weiter Schreiben ()

05/09/2025

HEKMA YAGOUB at the 25th internationales literaturfestival berlin ()

Radical, poetic, and defiant: Sudanese author, feminist, and human rights activist Hekma Yagoub () reads from her texts on colonial myths, repression, and exile — reclaiming language as resistance.

📝 Sept 15 | 7:15–8:30 PM
📍 Room of Silence (Raum der Stille), Dokumentationszentrum Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung (), Stresemannstraße 90, 10963 Berlin

Hekma Yagoub’s reading takes place in the “Room of Silence” as part of the “Wandering Readings”, where audience members move between intimate readings across the venue.

This evening is part of the ilb’s thematic focus “Words in Motion – What does writing in exile mean?”, which explores literature shaped by displacement, loss, and reinvention.

🎟️ Tickets: 18 € / 12 € reduced
📚 Also reading: Volha Hapeyeva, Ahmed Awny, Mazda Mehrgan, Ali Alzaeem, Mariia Kaziun & Yasser Niksada

We warmly invite you to join us for this powerful and moving evening of “wandering literature”!

🤝 In cooperation with the Körber-Stiftung (koerberstiftung), the Dokumentationszentrum Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung, and supported by the Goethe-Institut in Exile, The Poetry Project e.V. (.berlin) & Weiter Schreiben ()

04/09/2025

ART & AFTERNOON TEA: COMMUNITY MEET-UP FOR ARTISTS AND CULTURAL PRACTITIONERS FROM AFGHANISTAN

Dear Berlin-based Afghan artists! 👋 Join us for the September edition of our Community Meet-up “Art & Afternoon Tea”. 🫖☕️☕️

📅 14.09.2025
🕖 2 – 5 PM
📍 ACUD Studio 

Come spend a relaxed Sunday afternoon sharing ideas about your artistic projects, making new connections, and meeting others in a warm, informal setting.

This meet-up is all about creating an open space where exiled Afghan artists can support one another, exchange experiences, and build community — all over a cup of tea.
👇👇👇

No registration required—just come by! We look forward to seeing you!

     

02/09/2025

September at Goethe-Institut in Exile is about sharp voices, quiet resistance, and unexpected connections — across borders, disciplines, and lived realities. Here’s what’s coming up:

🫖 Sept 14 – Art & Afternoon Tea
A warm gathering for Afghan cultural practitioners at ACUD Studio – join us for tea, exchange, and community. No registration needed!

📝 Sept 15 – Hekma Yagoub at ilb
Radical, poetic, and defiant: Sudanese poet and human rights activist Hekma Yagoub () reads from her texts on colonial myths and patriarchal violence. A powerful voice of exile in the Room of Silence – part of the Wandering Readings at the 25th ilb ()

🎬 Sept 24 – Reconnecting Through the Cracks
Film screening series at ACUD Kino, curated by Marwa Zein (). Watch « Soundtrack to a Coup d’État » by Johan Grimonprez and « An Orange from Jaffa » by the Palestinian film director Mohammed Almughanni — stories of resistance, colonial entanglements, and resilience. 🍊

📚 Sept 30 – Filling in the Blanks: Meret Weber
Our reading series continues with author and political scientist Meret Weber (). Hosted by Ameena Quansah () and Tanasgol Sabbagh (), we read and discuss key texts from q***r, feminist, and postcolonial perspectives. No prior knowledge required – just register and join the circle.

Let’s reconnect in September – through literature, film, and conversation. 💚

07/08/2025

SONIC CROSSINGS – Pop Currents drom from
Armenia, Azerbaijan & Georgia

Together with the music department of the Goethe-Institut and the Berlin-based Goethe-Institut in Exile, the Pop-Kultur Festival 2025 has launched a new project titled »Sonic Crossings«. The initiative focuses on various forms of pop expressions from a selected region.

The first edition will feature musicians from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, who have been invited to Berlin for a short-term residency in August 2025.
The goal is to foster artistic exchange with the local scene and build new creative connections. In addition, the participating musicians will present their work at the festival through concerts, listening sessions, and discursive formats.

This year’s lineup includes:
Tape Visitors, a four-piece alternative rock band from Tbilisi; immersive sound artist Nazrin Mammadova aka inherroom from Baku, the experimental electronic duo Symptom Error from Yerevan; and Georgian indie musician Vaqo, known for his unique, humorously staged performances.

05/08/2025

📚✨ FILLING IN THE BLANKS: JOSEPHINE APRAKU ✨
How do we speak about power, memory, identity—when language itself is shaped by the very systems we seek to challenge? Join us for the second session of Filling in the Blanks—a monthly reading group exploring the vocabularies of (post-)colonial, abolitionist, Q***r, and Feminist thought. Curated by Ameena Quansah () & Tanasgol Sabbagh ().

🗓 August 26, 2025
⏰ 6–9 PM
📍 ACUD Studio, Berlin
🌍 Language of this session: German
🎟 Free with registration | ⚠️ Limited spots — register early!

This time, we’ll be joined by Josephine Apraku (.apraku)—a scholar of African Studies, author, podcaster, and educator specializing in intersectional, anti-racist education. Josephine’s work spans nonfiction and children’s literature, with publications in Missy Magazine, Der Tagesspiegel, and Vogue Germany.

They also curate the Berlin-based reading series In guter Gesellschaft (“In Good Company”), raising funds for grassroots movements and creating space for community-oriented dialogue. Their practice moves between critique and utopia—exposing structural injustice while imagining new forms of collective life.

Josephine will share one of their own texts and invite us into conversation. Reading in advance is encouraged, but not required—what matters is that we show up, read together, and co-create meaning.

📩 To join, email: [email protected]
Subject: Registration Reading Group

***rStudies

31/07/2025

We’re happy to share a throwback to the very first session of our new reading group “Filling in the Blanks,” which took place last Tuesday at ACUD Studio, Berlin. 💬📚

Led by writer and political educator Bafta Sarbo, the evening marked the beginning of a series that invites us to read and discuss foundational texts in (post-)colonial, abolitionist, q***r, and feminist theory—questioning the language we use, the meanings we assume, and the blanks we fill in together.

Curated and moderated by Ameena Quansah and Tanasgol Sabbagh , each session will feature a guest from the fields of art, activism, or research, who brings a text and offers a lens for deeper discussion. We’re building a shared vocabulary—carefully, collectively, across perspectives.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in this thoughtful, open space for exchange and reflection. And a big thank-you to Bafta Sarbo for setting the tone with such clarity and depth.

Our next session will take place on August 26, with Josephine Apraku .apraku joining us as our guest. ✨

Registration is free via email at [email protected]. Full info via link in bio.
Swipe through to revisit our first evening together. 💭💚

📸 ©️Ksenia Yanko .photography

***rStudies

31/07/2025

ART & AFTERNOON TEA: COMMUNITY MEET-UP FOR ARTISTS AND CULTURAL PRACTITIONERS FROM AFGHANISTAN

Dear Berlin-based Afghan artists! 👋 Join us for the August edition of our Community Meet-up “Art & Afternoon Tea”. 🫖☕️☕️

📅 17.08.2025
🕖 2 – 5 PM
📍 ACUD Studio 

Get together on a Sunday afternoon to exchange ideas about artistic projects and establish new networks in an informal setting. The aim is to create an open space where exiled artists can engage in dialogue over a cup of tea in a creative and supportive community.

As part of the meet-up, Afghan author Alam Gul Sahar will present his book „The History of ARG“. Sahar is a poet, writer, and journalist, born in 1963 in Paktia province. He studied literature at Kabul University and has worked with various Afghan government institutions as well as BBC, Azadi Radio, and Lemar TV. Most recently, he served as the cultural attaché at the Afghan Embassy in Germany. He has written 28 books across poetry, fiction, folklore, children’s literature, and history — 22 of which have been published.
👇👇👇
If you’re in Berlin, feel free to stop by — no registration needed. Just come along, meet fellow artists, and enjoy a cup of tea with us!

     

30/07/2025

We’re off for a short summer break 🌞 – but from mid-August, we’re back with new encounters, conversations, and sonic exploration 🎶💬 Here’s what’s coming up:

🫖 August 17 – Art & Afternoon Tea
A warm community meet-up for Afghan artists and cultural practitioners at Kunsthaus ACUD Studio. Come by for tea, to share ideas and build new networks – no registration needed!

📚 August 26 – Filling in the Blanks: Josephine Apraku
Our new reading group continues! In this session, scholar and author Josephine Apraku (.apraku) joins hosts Ameena Quansah () and Tanasgol Sabbagh () for a conversation on racism, discrimination, and resistance. No prior knowledge required – just register and join in!

🔊 August 25–29 – Sonic Crossings at Pop-Kultur Festival 2025
Together with and , we launch Sonic Crossings – a new music initiative exploring pop sounds from Armenia, Azerbaijan & Georgia. Experience concerts, talks, and listening sessions with:
🎸 Tape Visitors (Tbilisi) .visitors
🌀 inherroom (Baku)
💥 Symptom Error (Yerevan)
🎭 Vaqo (Georgia)

🎟️ Most events are free | Sonic Crossings Live on Aug 29: €33 + fees
Let’s reconnect in August – for music, dialogue, and new creative perspectives from across borders.

21/07/2025

We’re happy to share a throwback to a special night in collaboration with the literary platform , celebrating the launch of their new magazine last Friday! ✨

The event took place as the fourth edition of our ongoing series „Syria: Quo Vadis?“, which brings together voices from the Syrian diaspora and beyond to reflect on memory, identity, and future visions after the fall of the Assad regime.

Curated by .albitar.kalaji, the new Weiter Schreiben issue – “When We Return – Texts on Syria” – gathers prose, essays, and poetry from authors living in Syria, those who have returned, and others still unable to go back.

Writers Odai Al Zoubi, Dellair Youssef (), Hanadi Zarka () and shared deeply personal texts, exploring the emotional terrain of return, disappearance, and hope. Their words were performed in German by acclaimed actors and , opening them up to new layers of resonance.
k offered a sonic landscape between the readings – tender, tense, and vibrant. The evening closed with a powerful DJ set by .t at ACUD Club.

Thank you to everyone who joined us. Swipe through to revisit the evening. 💚

//

Hier kommt ein Rückblick auf einen besonderen Abend in Kooperation mit der Literaturplattform , bei dem wir letzten Freitag die Veröffentlichung des neuen Magazins gefeiert haben.

Das neue Weiter Schreiben-Magazin „Wenn wir wiederkommen – Texte zu Syrien“, kuratiert von Dima Albitar Kalaji, versammelt Prosa, Essays und Gedichte von Autor*innen, die in Syrien leben, zurückgekehrt sind oder deren Rückkehr noch nicht möglich ist.

Die Autor*innen Odai Al Zoubi, Dellair Youssef, Hanadi Zarka und Ahmad Katlesh präsentierten persönliche Texte über Rückkehr, Verschwinden und Hoffnung. Die deutschen Übersetzungen wurden von den Schauspielern Melika Foroutan und Sabin Tambrea vorgetragen.

Zwischen den Lesungen schuf Dima Dawood mit ihrer Musik eine Klanglandschaft – zart, spannungsgeladen und lebendig. Den Abend beendete ein DJ-Set von MUNSEF im ACUD Club.

Danke an alle, die dabei waren! 💚

14/07/2025

SYRIA: QUO VADIS? WEITER SCHREIBEN – MAGAZINE LAUNCH

🗓️ Fri, July 18, 2025
🕗 8:00 pm–12:30 am
📍 ACUD Studio ()
🎟️ Free entry
🗣️ Arabic & German

On July 18, we continue with the fourth edition of our series „Syria: Quo Vadis?“
Together with the literary platform Weiter Schreiben (), we celebrate the launch of the new magazine:
“When We Return – Texts on Syria”, curated by Dima Albitar Kalaji (.albitar.kalaji).

Authors Odai Al Zoubi , Dellair Youssef, Hanadi Zarka, and Ahmad Katlesh ( will read from their latest works, accompanied by live music by Dima Dawood (.k).

The German translations of the texts will be performed by acclaimed actors Melika Foroutan ( and Sabin Tambrea ().

Through essays, prose, and poetic fragments, the magazine explores return, loss, and hope after the fall of the Assad regime.

🎧 From 9:30 pm, join us for an after-show DJ set by MUNSEF (.t) at ACUD Club.
Free entry – we look forward to seeing you there!

//

SYRIA: QUO VADIS? WEITER SCHREIBEN – MAGAZIN LAUNCH

🗓️ Fr, 18.07.2025
🕗 20:00–0:30 Uhr
📍 ACUD Studio ()
🎟️ Eintritt frei
🗣️ Arabisch & Deutsch

Am 18. Juli geht unsere Reihe „Syrien: Quo Vadis?“ in die vierte Runde!

Gemeinsam mit der Literaturplattform “Weiter Schreiben” feiern wir den Launch der neuen Magazin-Ausgabe:
„Wenn wir wiederkommen – Texte zu Syrien“, kuratiert von Dima Albitar Kalaji.

Die Autor*innen Odai Al Zoubi, Dellair Youssef, Hanadi Zarka und Ahmad Katlesh lesen aus ihren aktuellen Texten – begleitet von Live-Musik der Musikerin Dima Dawood.

Die deutschen Übersetzungen werden von den Schauspieler*innen Melika Foroutan und Sabin Tambrea vorgetragen.

In Essays, Prosa und poetischen Fragmenten reflektieren die Beiträge über Rückkehr, Verlust und Hoffnung nach dem Fall des Assad-Regimes.

🎧 Ab 21:30 Uhr feiern wir weiter mit einem DJ-Set von MUNSEF im ACUD Club.

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