German-New Zealand Events Retrospective
As part of its Cultural Heritage Conservation Programme, the German Foreign Office has been actively involved in the evaluation of a project designed to preserve the old Court House in Apia, Samoa. The programme, which has been running since 1981, supports localized projects outside Germany with the aim of enhancing both the respective country’s cultural heritage and its mutual cultural dialogue with Germany.
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Seven representatives from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) participated in an information visit to Germany recently at the invitation of the German Foreign Office. Among them were high ranking officials Toelau Viliamu Iulio from Samoa, Keshwa Nand Reddy from Fiji, Alexander Tama Henry from the Cook Islands and Conchitta Paul from Kiribati.
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On Sunday, 13 November 2011, two exhibitions opened at the Pataka Museum in Porirua exploring the historical impact and lasting legacy of Germany´s colonial past in Samoa at the beginning of the 20th century, where over 200 guests could be allured to attend the official opening ceremonies led by museum curator Helen Kedgley. Ambassador Thomas H. Meister, who in his opening address emphasized the strong bonds between the two nations, was joined by Hon. Prof. Winnie Laban and HE James Blakelock, High Commissioner of Samoa in New Zealand.
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On 10 November, Ambassador Meister welcomed invited guests to a special screening of Wim Wender’s “PINA 3D” film at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington. The performance was introduced by an informative commentary by choreographic expert Jennifer Shennan from Wellington.
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On 9 November 2011, Ambassador Thomas H. Meister officially handed over a “Trabant” car to the Southward Car Museum in Paraparaumu.
Kapiti Coast District Mayor Jenny Rowan and Stan Bellamore, the Southward trustee manager, also joined the event, which coincided with the 125th birthday of the invention of the first automobile and the 22nd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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On Sunday 6 November, the residence of the German Ambassador was the chosen venue for an evening of musical delight, when the Wellington Friends of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra presented a “Musical Celebration” featuring fourteen members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
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With the relevant agreements having been signed at the beginning of June 2011 during German Foreign Minister Dr. Guide Westerwelle’s visit to New Zealand, the South Pacific island nation now presented itself officially at this year’s Book Fair. Project Leader Tanea Heke promised “a spiritual and sensual feast”.
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On 3 October, German embassies all over the world marked the occasion with celebrations taking many forms and venues: in Wellington, this year’s party was held at “Soi” restaurant in Evans Bay.
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Many ideas, movements and organisations are depicted by a symbol, but human rights are one of the few issues to which no logo had ever been attached. All 6.8 billion people on earth are linked by sharing these fundamental rights and with language barriers dividing them, a universal symbol will at least symbolically illustrate this bond.
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The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world's largest book fair, being held annually in the second week of October. Next year, New Zealand will be the guest of honour.
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On 2 June 2011, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle arrived in Auckland for his first visit to New Zealand. Mr Westerwelle referred to New Zealand as 'a country of friends' with Germany and New Zealand sharing common values and similar positions on global issues and expressed his solidarity with New Zealand regarding the February earthquake in Christchurch.
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The "Sonne" (English: sun) is a German Oceanographic Research Vessel based in Bremen equipped to sample the Ocean bed by drilling and recently has also carried her own submersible. The vessel traverses the world’s oceans in the framework of diverse geological oceanic projects. Equipped with winding mechanisms, cranes, sonar and echo sounding equipment and 18 laboratories, it has completed well over 200 voyages so far.
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The German Embassy in Wellington held a charity concert with „Trio A Due“ at Old St. Paul's Church on 22 March 2011 to raise funds for the victims of the Christchurch earthquake. „Trio A Due“ are two German singers who came together in 1996. They are known for their extraordinary arrangements of most varied music styles and the three unique sounds created by Almut Seebeck's soprano, Felicitas Weyer's mezzo soprano and her piano accompaniment.
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In March 2011, Berlin orchestra “Lautten Copmagney” staged several performances of the Händel opera “Xerxes” in New Zealand. Together with the NZ Victoria Opera company, the German musicians first performed in Auckland during the Auckland Arts Festival before the play moved to Wellington's St. James Theatre. In addition, the Lautten Copmagney generously gave a benefit concert on 17 March to raise funds for the victims of the Christchurch earthquake.
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The second EURASIPAC Asia-Pacific workshop was held in Wellington on 18 February 2011 following a workshop in Canberra two days before. The overall aim of the thematic workshops is to develop detailed recommendations to the European Commission to be implemented in the field of ICT research cooperation between Europe and the Asian-Pacific area.
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European Masters of the 19th and 20th century have come to spend this year's summer season in New Zealand's capital. Te Papa Tongarera features 96 works by 70 of the greatest German, French, Spanish, Belgian, Dutch, and Swiss masters. The exhibition captures the dynamic and transformative years from across six artistic movements of the past two centuries and includes iconic Neoclassical, Realist, Impressionist and Symbolist works, as well as breathtaking German Expressionist paintings and sculptures.
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On 21 January, over 80 guests attended the launch of the film “A Language with Heart” at the Goethe-Institut in Wellington. The idea for the movie was to promote the learning of foreign languages in New Zealand. “A Language with Heart” aims to illustrate the many positive characteristics of the German language as well as the amazing opportunities that come with learning German.
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On Friday, 2 January 2011, the members of “Netzwerk Deutsch” held their annual meeting at the Goethe-Institut in Wellington. The “Netzwerk Deutsch” is tasked with supporting the learning of the German language in schools and universities and coordinating as well as exchanging views on different campaigns to promote German.
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