Theater professional Keng Yi-wei (耿一偉) was presented the Goethe Medal on Aug. 28 at the awards ceremony in Weimar, Germany. The medal has been awarded since 1955 and Keng is the first recipient from Taiwan to receive the prestigious award. To celebrate the win, the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in Germany and Kunstfest Weimar, invited a Taiwanese performing arts group Polymer DMT (聚合舞) to perform at the Weimar Art Festival.
Keng has been working in theatre alongside his work as a writer. In 2012, he became artistic director of the Taipei Arts Festival and went on to take on the role of a curator at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying). Currently, he is responsible for curating the Tainan Arts Festival under the theme of “Tainan 400.” Keng received the Friendship Medal of the German Institute Taipei in 2017 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France in 2019. The Goethe Medal is not only a form of recognition of Keng’s contributions, but it is also a tribute to the development of Taiwanese art and culture.
The Goethe Medal is the most important award of Germany's foreign cultural policy, honoring public figures from all over the world who have rendered outstanding services to international cultural exchange and the teaching of the German language. The candidates are nominated by the Goethe-Instituts around the world in consultation with Germany’s diplomatic missions. Since it was first awarded in 1955, more than 300 individuals from over 70 countries have been honored. The Goethe Medal is awarded at a ceremony in Weimar on Aug. 28, the birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.