2019-09-25

#rpDetroit Speaker Andreas Görgen: Access is the precondition to equality

Andreas Görgen has been head of the Cultural and Communications Department of the Federal Foreign Office since 2014. Together with the Goethe-Institut and the BDI, his team is preparing the "Deutschlandjahr USA". At #rpDetroit Andreas Görgen will talk about "Art for Social Impact".

What message do you want to share at re:publica Detroit?
The Sequencer Tour  is a flagship project within the Wunderbar Together campaign, which has more than 340 partners, over 2.000 events in all 50 states and 1.6 million people engaged – these numbers are as impressive as the holistic approach of the different sectors involved like culture, industry and politics. We share the conviction that access to art, sustainability and social impact of culture is of utmost importance to building democratic and value based solutions. No single issue of the 21stcentury can be solved on the basis of a nation state. The German-US partnership is therefore of outstanding importance. By promoting cultural co-production, creativity and diversity, within and between the US and Germany, the Sequencer Tour is laying the ground. We are deeply convinced that access to culture and education, technology and wealth is key – and can only be accomplished through close cooperation between Germany and the US.
 
From your experience, what are challenges regarding access to Arts & Culture (in Detroit)?

Access is the precondition to equality. It is defining the level playing field and will enable our fellow citizens to contribute to something which is beyond individual interests. We strongly believe, that cultural spaces, public libraries, schools and universities, theaters and museums are not "cathedrals of knowledge and heritage", but places for dialogue, exchange and innovation. We have to invest in these cultural infrastructures in order to enhance an exchange of ideas, facilitate the circulation of hearts and brains, of objects and ideas.
 
What are you looking forward to most at re:publica Detroit?

Meeting the Detroit communities and contributing to a closer cooperation between Detroit and Berlin thrills me!