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.

23/02/2026

With appreciation for what has been built together, we share difficult news today.

Against the backdrop of current political developments, multiple global crises and their impact on our work, the Goethe-Institut will discontinue the Goethe-Institut in Exile programme. The acute pressure on our structures, including limited financial resources no longer allow us to continue the programme.

As a result, all events scheduled from 23 February 2026 onwards are cancelled.

The Goethe-Institut in Exile programme has been a place of arrival and continuation – a meeting point, a space for discourse, and a stage for artists at risk from countries where institutes had to close due to war and censorship. It created visibility for stories of flight and border experiences, for new beginnings, and for the artistic diversity of diasporic communities.

The Goethe-Institut continues to amplify exiled artists, to connect them with our international cultural programming, and to bring their perspectives into the German and global discourse.

Thanks to all the artists, partners and audiences who have shaped this programme.

🔗 Link to the full statement on our website in the bio.

We remain connected through the networks it has formed and the dialogue it has set in motion.

10/02/2026

This Sunday, it’s time again for a gathering at ACUD Studio! 🎨🫖

ART & AFTERNOON TEA: COMMUNITY MEET-UP FOR ARTISTS AND CULTURAL PRACTITIONERS FROM AFGHANISTAN
Berlin-based Afghan artists, come join us for the February edition of our Community Meet-up “Art & Afternoon Tea”! 👋☕️

📅 15.02.2026
🕖 2 – 5 PM
📍 ACUD Studio 

Spend a relaxed Sunday afternoon connecting with fellow artists, sharing ideas about your projects, and meeting new friends in a warm, informal setting.

This meet-up offers an open space for Afghan artists in exile to support one another, exchange experiences, and build community — all over a cozy cup of tea.

No registration needed — just drop by! We can’t wait to see you there!

09/02/2026

We’re happy to share a throwback to a special evening on January 24, 2026, at ACUD Studio, Berlin, reflecting on a pivotal moment for Syria and the Syrian diaspora. ✨

The event marked the latest edition of our series “Syria: Quo Vadis?”, featuring Mohammad Al Attar, Joumana Seif, and Guevara Namer (). Together, we explored how different collective memories have shaped Syrian society — and why failing to listen to each other could threaten the fragile possibility of understanding and reconciliation.

Curated by Mohammad Al Attar, the panel offered a frank and respectful discussion on political transition, memory, accountability, and imagining a future beyond violence and sectarianism. Moderation was provided by journalist and political scientist Kristin Helberg ().

The evening created a space for dialogue and reflection, welcoming all interested in understanding the experiences and grievances of Syrians in exile and at home.

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

📸 Photos by Malte Seidel ()

04/02/2026

UNMUTED: LOVE AND IRAN – A LISTENING SESSION & CONCERT
Join us on February 14 at ACUD Club () for Unmuted: Love and Iran — a Valentine’s Day special featuring a listening session and live concerts with FARAVAZ () and MADANII ().

🗓️ 14.02.2026
🕗 8:00 PM
📍 ACUD Club, Berlin
🗣️ English
🎟️ Free entrance (registration via our website required)

Since the 1979 revolution, women in Iran have been largely prohibited from singing in public. Female voices are widely considered politically sensitive — and yet, music has remained a central space in which one theme continues to resonate: love.

Drawing on Persian poetry, contemporary Iranian music, and diasporic experience, this evening explores love as poetic expression, spiritual force, and political gesture — situated between intimacy and resistance.
The listening session, moderated by Aida Baghernejad, centers on the musical worlds of FARAVAZ and MADANII. Together, they share songs that they associate with love in all its facets: as longing and loss, as courage and political action, and as a bond to language, origin, and community.

Following the listening session, FARAVAZ and MADANII will perform live. Faravaz connects her music to the Women, Life, Freedom movement, combining trap beats and Persian references to tell stories of defiance and empowerment. Berlin-based artist MADANII explores q***r love, belonging, and life between cultures through avant-pop, alternative R&B, and trap.

The evening is held with thoughts of those affected by the current situation in Iran. We warmly invite you — especially those with ties to Iran — to join us for this shared moment of listening and presence.

For full event details and registration, please visit our website. We look forward to spending this Valentine’s Night with you — listening together, in solidarity and care. 💚

02/02/2026

Welcome, February!
This month at the Goethe-Institut in Exile opens spaces shaped by presence, language, sound, and exchange — bringing together artistic practices that emerge from exile, fragmentation, and resistance.

Here’s what’s coming up:

✨ Highlight of the month | Literature from Palestine — February 25
Under the title “The Sea Is There, But We Are Not”, we invite you to a literary encounter with contemporary Palestinian writing at ACUD Studio. Curated by Abdalrahman Alqalaq, the evening brings together Alaa Alqaisi, Asmaa Azaizeh, and Ahmed Saleh, who will read from their works and speak with Maha El Hissy about a literature born from loss and fragmentation — yet deeply rooted in presence, language, and resistance. Musical intervention by Cham Saloum.

✨ Another focus this month: Iran
February also places a special focus on Iranian perspectives — shaped by ongoing political repression, protest, and resistance movements in Iran, and by the urgency of listening to voices in exile and diaspora.

On February 6, we screen “The Runner” at Sinema Transtopia — the autobiographical masterpiece by Iranian director Amir Naderi and a landmark of post-revolutionary Iranian cinema, tracing endurance and the struggle for self-determination. From February 3–6, Naderi also leads “Cinema Beyond Borders”, a four-day seminar for transnational filmmakers.

Music becomes a space of political and emotional resonance on February 14 with “Unmuted: Love and Iran”. In a Valentine’s special listening session and two concerts, Faravaz and MADANII explore love as courage, memory, and a political act of resistance.

On February 15, “Art & Afternoon Tea” offers an open community meet-up for Afghan artists and cultural practitioners, centered on exchange and mutual support.

On February 23, “Contract Design in Arts and Culture” provides practical guidance for transnational artists and cultural producers, with lawyer Laura Rhotert.

We close the month on February 26 with “Filling in the Blanks”, welcoming Sham Jaff for a collective reading and discussion.

For more events by and with artists in exile, visit our calendar.

We look forward to seeing you. 💚

15/01/2026

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

Dear Berlin-based Afghan artists! 👋

Join us for the first Art & Afternoon Tea of the year 2026. 🫖☕️

📅 25.01.2026
🕖 2 – 5 PM
📍ACUD Studio 

Come spend a relaxed Sunday afternoon sharing ideas about your artistic projects, connecting with fellow artists, and meeting others in a warm and informal atmosphere.
This meet-up is about creating an open and welcoming space where exiled Afghan artists can exchange experiences, support one another, and strengthen community — all over a cup of tea.
👇👇👇
No registration required — just drop by! We look forward to seeing you. 💚

08/01/2026

SYRIA: QUO VADIS?
A YEAR AFTER THE FALL OF ASSAD — WHERE DO SYRIANS IN GERMANY STAND TODAY?
One year after the fall of the Assad regime — and one year after the launch of Syria: Quo Vadis? at ACUD Kunsthaus — we return to a decisive moment for Syria and for Syrians in exile.

🗓️ Sat, January 24, 2026
🕔 5–7 PM
📍 ACUD Studio, Berlin
🗣️ English
🎟️ Free entrance

Between relief and exhaustion, hope and fear, freedom and uncertainty: how is this historical rupture being experienced today? What does it mean to live in between — unable to return safely, yet increasingly confronted with hostile rhetoric in the country where a new life has been built?
This panel brings together voices from the Syrian diaspora to reflect on political transition, memory, accountability, and the difficult work of imagining a future beyond violence and sectarianism — at a moment when the past has ended, but has not yet loosened its grip.

🎙️ With:
Mohammad Al Attar — writer & playwright
Guevara Namer — filmmaker & visual artist
Joumana Seif — human rights lawyer & transitional justice expert

🗣️ Moderation: Kristin Helberg — journalist & political scientist
The evening is curated by Mohammad Al Attar.

Together, we ask: how can truth, responsibility, and inclusive narratives take shape after decades of repression? And what role can art, law, and public discourse play in accompanying a society marked by loss — yet still searching for possibility?

Part of the event series “Syria: Quo Vadis?” by the Goethe-Institut im Exil, creating space for critical reflection on Syria’s present and future — and for the voices of the Syrian diaspora who actively engage with the ongoing transformations of their country.

For full event details, visit our calendar. We look forward to welcoming you. 💚

07/01/2026

📚✨ FILLING IN THE BLANKS: FATIN ABBAS ✨
Join us for the next session of our monthly reading group Filling in the Blanks, curated and moderated by Ameena Quansah () & Tanasgol Sabbagh (). Together, we read across theory and literature to examine how power, violence, and imagination shape our political realities.

📚 This session, we are thrilled to welcome Fatin Abbas () — novelist, essayist, and scholar — whose work moves between fiction, criticism, and journalism, tracing the invisible structures that govern life, death, and survival. Abbas is the author of Ghost Season (2023) and Black Time: Essays on the Invisible (2025), and teaches Fiction Writing at MIT.

✨ In this session, we will explore necropolitics, haunting, zombification, and the figure of the “living dead” as political, philosophical, and aesthetic frameworks. How do ghosts linger in histories of violence? What does it mean to live in zones of being and non-being? And how can literature help us think — and feel — our way through these questions?

📖 Selected readings include excerpts from:
— Achille Mbembe, Necropolitics
— Ramón Grosfoguel, What Is Racism?
— Mariana Enríquez, Our Share of Night
— Roberto Bolaño, Godzilla in Mexico

Together, we’ll place theory in conversation with political horror and poetry, opening space to think about contemporary forms of power, fear, and resistance.

🗓 JANUARY 14, 2026
⏰ 6–9 PM
📍 ACUD Studio, Berlin
🌍 Language of this session: English
🎟 Free with registration | ⚠️ Limited spots — register early!
Reading the texts is encouraged, but not required.

Let’s fill in the blanks—together. 🖤
📩 Register via email: [email protected]
Subject: Registration Reading Group

05/01/2026

Welcome, January!
This month at the Goethe-Institut in Exile brings together writers, thinkers, and cultural practitioners to read closely, reflect collectively, and stay in dialogue across borders and lived experiences.

On January 14, our reading group “Filling in the Blanks” continues with author Fatin Abbas as our guest. She will bring selected texts, which we will read and discuss together. Open to all curious minds. Register to join.

From January 19 onward, we are delighted to welcome Alaa Alqaisi as an LCB resident in Berlin. Over six weeks, her literary, translational, and scholarly practice will resonate across the city’s cultural landscape, opening new connections between Palestinian perspectives and local discourses. A reading with her is planned for February 25; more information will follow shortly.

A central focus this month is the fifth edition of SYRIA: QUO VADIS? on January 24 at ACUD Kunsthaus Berlin. One year after the fall of the Assad regime — and one year after the launch of this series — we reflect on change, uncertainty, and future perspectives with Mohammad Al Attar, Guevara Namer, Joumana Seif, in conversation with Kristin Helberg.

We close the month with Art & Afternoon Tea on January 25 — an open community meet-up for Afghan artists and cultural practitioners, centered on exchange, connection, and mutual support.

For full event details, visit our calendar. We look forward to welcoming you. 💚

09/12/2025

📸 MEET THE ARTIST: ANDREI LIANKEVICH ⚡️

What compels a photographer to trace the invisible threads of tradition, identity, and history? Which images demand to be seen, and which absences haunt the frame?

The Goethe-Institut in Exile invites you to meet Belarusian photographer Andrei Liankevich in our interview series. Born in Grodno in 1981 and based in Minsk, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Le Figaro, Newsweek, Die Zeit, Spiegel, GEO, Vanity Fair and more. In 2010 he published Pagan, the first book on Belarusian pagan traditions, a project that earned him international recognition and awards. His later works, from Traditional Interiors to Unknown Country, continue to explore culture, memory, and belonging.

On November 7th, we were honored to host Andrei at Sophienkirche in Berlin for Stones That Breathe, Wind That Sings – A Living Archive From Belarusian Palessie: an organ concert and exhibition where his Palessian photo archive entered into dialogue with the music of J.S. Bach, performed by composer and organist Olga Podgaiskaya and soprano saxophonist Vitali Darashuk, mapped by Sergei Novistky and curated by Anna Karpenko

Thanks to for capturing this conversation beautifully. 💕

Stay tuned for more voices and visions are on the horizon. Enjoy the interview and follow us for updates! ✨

04/12/2025

Last Thursday we closed this year’s Goethe-Institut in Exile programme with the final event, presented together with Berlin Review (): “Refusing Violence — How to Shift the Paradigm When the Paradigm Is War”. ⚡️

At Salon am Moritzplatz, we gathered with Yevgenia Belorusets (), Adam Raz, Nahed Samour (), and the Berlin Review editors to reflect on how entrenched forms of language and thought shape our political imagination in times of war — and how alternative frameworks might still be forged.

In the first panel, Yevgenia Belorusets spoke with Berlin Review editor Tobias Haberkorn about her war diaries — freshly published in Berlin Review’s Reader 5 — which bring us close to Ukraine’s war-torn society and pose the question at the heart of the evening: Can we reject militarization while still resisting the violence of an aggressor?

In the second panel, Palestinian-German legal scholar Nahed Samour, Israeli historian Adam Raz, and Carmen Herold of the Goethe-Institut in Exile explored the fragile possibilities for moving from a paradigm of killing toward accountability and the protection of life in Palestine. one of accountability and protection of life.

A night of urgent insights, brave perspectives, and shared attempts to imagine political futures beyond the dominant logic of violence.

➡️ An event in cooperation with Berlin Review

📸 Photos by Malte Seidel (), captured at Salon am Moritzplatz (), Berlin-Kreuzberg.

Thank you for joining us throughout the year — and for thinking, questioning, and imagining with us. More to come in 2026.

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