Early in April, the institute - a non-profit organisation which promotes German language and culture outside of German-speaking countries - will invite entries for a contest called Schiller and Rap. Students of German from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia are invited to transform the poetry of Goethe and Schiller into rap, says Budapest Goethe Institute director Gabriele Gauler. Two winners will be picked from Hungary, and they will travel to Germany in early 2009 to record an album with contest winners from other countries and to perform a concert.
The Goethe Institute will also invite submissions for a visual art competition entitled Alter-Ego. Video, photographs, music or texts that show a "double portrait" of two people from the same social circle will be accepted until July.
In May, the Cologne-based artist Mischa Kuball will set up an installation of lights along Ráday Street - where the Goethe Institute is located - between Bakáts Square and Boráros Square, said Márta Nagy, who heads the institute's cultural department.
The Goethe Institute will be at the 15th International Book Festival in Budapest this April. The festival's guest of honour will be the German author Ingo Schulze.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
