18 - 20 November, 2019

“To everything there is a season!” Goethe wrote 200 years ago in his “Notes for a Better Understanding of the West-Eastern Divan". Today we face another era in which the "West" feels threatened by the "East", by Islam, by the “Other,” by the unknown. To everything there is a season —and the season now seems right to attempt a divan for our times: A New Divan. The Barenboim-Said Akademie has invited leading poets, artists, and musicians from “East” and “West” to come together for a festival celebrating 200 years of Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan.

The program, curated by Prof. Dr. Mena Mark Hanna, Dean of the Barenboim-Said Akademie and co-produced by the Stiftung – Gingko Library, is the culmination of a four-year collaboration between the Barenboim-Said Akademie and the publishers of A New Divan. A series of poetry readings, keynote lectures, and panel discussions will explore and elaborate Goethe’s themes. The three-day event concludes with a concert presenting different settings of poems from Goethe’s Divan, under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim.

A New Divan is a multi-lingual anthology of poetry, celebrating what we have in common at a time when people seek to divide us. It was conceived to mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of the original Divan. “This reimagining of Goethe’s seminal work gives us the opportunity to re-engage with his thoughts—a much-needed exercise, given the state of the world today”, writes Daniel Barenboim in his foreword.

The festival program is complemented by an exhibition and the screening of a documentary film featuring the artist and activist Bahia Shehab. Admission to all events except the concert is free but tickets are required.