The Power of Language

For more than 50 years, the Goethe-Institut has acted as a mediator of language and culture all around the world. Together with a number of partners, it is now launching the international project “The Power of Language”, as a theme to run for over a year.

The focus is primarily on the role languages (should) play in our world. In what form is language a point of reference for one’s own national identity? What will multilingualism look like in the future? How and where are languages a vehicle of politics? What significance does “the power of language” have in science and commerce? And how is language policy seen today in Germany and abroad?

Questions which are more topical than ever, not only against the background of globalisation, but also in the course of ongoing European integration. People from teaching, research, art and politics discussed them - at local, national and transnational events. The resulting answers and suggestions formed the basis for the concluding event, the great “Festival: The Power of Language” in Berlin.

"The Power of Language" was the subject of events organised worldwide by the Goethe-Institut over a period of two years in collaboration with the scientific research promotion body Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft. They reflected the role of language in a globalised world. A multimedia publication of the same name ("Die Macht der Sprache"), published by Langenscheidt-Verlag, presents a selection of the highly varied results.

"The German language has never been so expressive, has never had such a large vocabulary and was never so capable of being used in so many different ways as now", a resumé of the books states. This can also be seen in the pithy contributions: the book is a homage not only to the German language, but to language itself. Whether it's academic contributions or declarations of love for language, for imported words and even for silence - all this is present throughout the 160-page volume and on the enclosed DVD. The book's editors are Jutta Limbach, former president of the Goethe-Institut, and Katharina von Ruckteschell-Katte, who was head of the Goethe-Institut's Language Department until June 2008.

The aim of the project "The Power of Language" was to explore the significance of language in a globalised world. In 2006 and 2007 the Goethe-Institut, together with the Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft, organised worldwide events on multilingualism, cultural diversity and language change. They culminated in a large conference in Berlin in June 2007.

"The Power of Language" is a defining example of the versatility of the Goethe-Institut's language work. In 2008 the Goethe-Institut continues to actively promote interest in language and language policy through major projects at home and abroad. A central theme is multilingualism: In June the Goethe-Institut launched the project "Languages without Borders", again in collaboration with the Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft and other partners.

This exhibition is a show of the best of over 4000 photographic entries into a competition on the Power of Language.

Visit the Rotorua Arts Village for a chance to see this show in June and early July.

All welcome.