World Expo, "Go To Market" In The Global Village: Exclusive Interview With Ackerman, General Director Of Goethe Institute, Germany

The "home of Germany and China" is the smallest exhibition hall in World Expo, Shanghai. It is also the only venue to be named by cultural exchange activities. It is a closing ceremony for Sino German friendship and cooperation activities.

3 years of "German China counterparts", together with German President Horst Keller and Chinese President Hu Jintao as guardian of activities, is also the largest exchange between Germany and China. What's the result of such a cultural exchange in World Expo? On the eve of the end of the "German Chinese counterparts", the reporter interviewed the project director of "German China counterparts" and Ackerman, general director of Germany Goethe Institute.

Reporter: there are no large-scale theatrical performances and no classical cultural symbols. There is no introduction to German culture and art in the Expo site, but a virtual city building game that everyone can participate in. What is the reason for this?

Ackerman: I learned a very interesting phenomenon. When German SMEs first invested in China, they failed more than half. Most of the reasons were not technology or capital, but cultural differences. The Germans said that Chinese people were too casual. The Chinese thought the Germans were too rigid and unable to understand and trust each other.

In the past, our culture and education were too simple to think of some symbolic activities. We always liked to emphasize "friendship". But when the interests conflict, the general friendship does not play much role.

On the other hand, today's world has become a "global village". The village is small and different countries are like different families. The premise of everyone's survival depends on whether you are willing to understand other families and cooperate with them.

Under such circumstances, it is not very meaningful to publicize the greatness, charm and details of German culture to Chinese people. It is too shallow to bring Peking Opera to Germany. We hope to promote a more profound and comprehensive understanding, so that a direct dialogue between the Germans and Chinese, experts and the old surnames will be made on the topic of "sustainable development".

Reporter: "Germany and China counterparts" took 3 years and went to 6 cities in China. Shanghai is the last stop. What is the characteristic of World Expo?

Ackerman: Shanghai is really very different.

Elsewhere, we may be the focus of the city, but World Expo seems to be a big "go to market". The audience has too much to see and is not likely to have time to explore some specific issues in depth.

Therefore, we set up the "home of the German and Chinese counterparts", the smallest exhibition hall in the Expo site.

The first is to use bamboo as building materials, which represents sustainable concepts and traditional Chinese characteristics. The two is that visitors can participate in an interactive city building game, create a city's neighborhood through their own actions, and then greet them with electricity and water.

The game was over in 8 minutes, but let the participants know that the appearance and life of the city were made by myself, and I am responsible for the city.

Reporter: in my impression, cultural exchange can easily become a game for a few people. How can we mobilize the enthusiasm of the people?

Ackerman: in the 3 years of activities, we found a very important foundation: trust.

To every place will find local partners, understand the city's situation, jointly plan the theme of activities, in Shenyang is "old industrial area pformation", in Wuhan is "city and water"......

It's related to personal life.

At the same time, such discussions are equal. The problems you are facing are also the problems we are facing. In many ways, we are not models. We hope to tell you the mistakes we have made. For example, the wider roads and more highways will not solve the problem of traffic jam in cities, but will make traffic worse.

These problems are very real. People, especially young people, are willing to talk, listen, read, ask questions and get more knowledge.

Reporter: you just said that World Expo is like "catching up with the big collection". I also noticed that a lot of energy in many national pavilions was used to cope with passenger flow. Would this lead to a superficial communication between different cultures?

Ackerman: "going to market" has the function of "going to market".

In this era of "global village", World Expo is more like a symbol. It is the display of every country's power and charm to self creation. Most national pavilions are national symbols, giving strange visitors a perceptual impression at the first time, rather than a profound understanding immediately.

But the influence of World Expo is very large. Up to now, nearly 180 thousand people have visited the "home of German Chinese counterparts". The audience, through a relatively relaxed way, generally known the activities of "Germany to China counterparts", and also understood World Expo's goals.

Also, I am very moved by the patience of the Chinese audience when queuing up, whether it is rainy or hot, not noisy, orderly, and very serious when visiting.

If a part of the audience is called "watching the fun", I don't think this is a bad thing.

Reporter: as a response to "Sino German counterparts", Germany will hold the "Chinese culture year" in 2012. Can you tell us something about the impact of Chinese culture in Germany?

Ackerman: with the rise of China's economic capability, the influence of culture has undoubtedly expanded.

When I studied Sinology at University of Munich in the 70s of last century, I had only 20 students in this major, but now, there are hundreds of students applying for this major.

At the same time, as far as I know, there are 8 Confucius institutes in Germany, and more than 300 secondary schools have Chinese courses.

However, China still faces quite a lot of challenges in Europe. It needs more understanding and understands China as a real, complex and interesting place.

To achieve this goal, World Expo may be just one kind of activity.

Reporter: it is said that in June 30th, "the house of German Chinese counterparts" will be closed in Shanghai's Expo Park. Will the museum be demolished?

Ackerman: the latest news is that the "home of German Chinese counterparts" will continue to exist until the end of October, but whether the interactive city building game can continue or change to other contents is not known yet.