A "talking" exhibition kicks off in Tashkent

September 7, 2010

On September 6, an interactive exhibition titled "They Speak German Here" opened its doors at Tashkent's Youth Creativity Palace. This is the first time the collaborative project by Goethe Institute and the Fund Forum has presented this multimedia exhibition in Central Asia.

On display are 500 multimedia exhibits, from a German dictionary compiled by the Brothers Grimm and the original edition of Sorrows of Young Werther to artsy notepads, a youth vernacular and mobile text messages.

Filled with educational installations and interactive elements, the exhibition has been given the goal of boosting interest in learning German. The literary machine enables visitors to listen to original prose and verse. Of particular interest would be a robot, created by a group of freelance artists, which is able to write short texts whereby the word order is constructed by an artificial intelligence using its own vocabulary and software. The video and audio materials improve the language used in advertisement, historical events and the youth. A language is a tool that allows for mutual understanding. It helps pass on traditions, culture and knowledge.

“They Speak German Here” is an opportunity to discover the contemporary German language – manifold, expressive and changing – which reflects a modern life style and thinking.

The exhibition will last until September 28.

Notably, this is not the first project launched by Goethe Institute and the Fund Forum. Previous events in Tashkent featured music bands, artists and lecturers from Germany. In April 2010, the Berlin Academy of Arts hosted an international exhibition of contemporary art ‘Unwetter’ (Ill Winds), attended by several Uzbek artists from IJOD Association of Artists, Art Historians and Craftsmen of Uzbekistan.