For the first time in 30 years, London played host to the UK-Germany Cultural Commission on Tuesday 7th May. The forum established in 1958 was revived in Germany last year and sets the agenda for joint cultural cooperation between the two nations.
"From football to Bauhaus, the UK and Germany are inextricably linked through our culture, and these ties help form the foundation of our close alliance.
When national identities are threatened, our culture – the customs and institutions that define us – becomes even more important." Minister for Europe, Nusrat Ghani
The forum saw Ministers, officials, and cultural organisations – such as Cultural Bridge stakeholders the Goethe Institute and British Council – discuss the promotion of German language learning in the UK, cooperation in higher education and research, the protection of cultural heritage, and the importance of mobility between the UK and Germany.
We were thrilled to be invited to present Cultural Bridge to those attending, sharing the programme's impact on the organisations we have funded to date and demonstrating why it's vital to continue supporting intercultural partnerships between the UK and Germany.
During our presentation, representatives from the 2024 - 2025 partnership between Angeprangert! Spoken Word (Weißwasser, Germany) and Young Identity (Manchester, England) were invited to share a glimpse into the social arts practice they are exploring together. Architexts of Change is a literary initiative that uses spoken word poetry to explore artists’ histories and creates joint poems seeking to build bridges through shared elements of the participants' local environments, from coal mines to city growth.
“Manchester is an important cultural hub for the UK and I’m delighted that talented artists from the city are helping to strengthen our partnerships with Germany. It is a fantastic example of our cultural cooperation - German and British talent coming together, and proving that we are powerfully united in more ways than we often consider – from art, to science, to literature.” Minister for Europe, Nusrat Ghani