Goethe-Institut Chicago

Join us for a performance by Maya Nguyen related to her exhibition LATERAL ENTRANT, currently on view at the Goethe-Institut Chicago.

At the intersection of foley practice, cinema sound, and meme aesthetics, this performance lecture explores the sonic structure of trauma, Hollywood portrayals of the Vietnam War, and cultural soft power through sound. This work takes as its starting point the iconic helicopter scene from Francis Ford Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now, in which a full-scale U.S. air assault is executed on a Vietnamese village with Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries ('Walkürenritt') playing on loudspeakers. It asks: In a rapidly evolving media environment, how do we depict, listen, and respond to the pain of others?

The performance will last approximately forty minutes, and light refreshments will be served.

Reserve your tickets via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/maya-nguyen-i-hear-you-can-make-a-helicopter-sound-with-a-flower-tickets-1987938879703

Celebrate Labor History Month with us this May with this presentation by Ben Schacht and Matthew Schlerf on their research into German-Jewish labor relations in Chicago at the turn of the twentieth century.

This presentation offers context for Chicago Shpatz’s Summer 2026 walking tours on Chicago’s German-Jewish labor history, created with support from the Goethe-Institut Chicago.

Their guided Randolph Street tour uses street theater and historical reenactment to show how Jewish immigrants and activists moved from the background of the 1886 Haymarket Affair to the forefront of the 1910 Chicago Garment Strike.
Topics include the political and industrial revolutions of 1848, German and Jewish immigration to Chicago, the Civil War and the Great Chicago Fire, the role of Turnverein (Turner Halls) and Hull-House as hubs for social activism, Chicago’s German and Yiddish press, the eight-hour day movement, and the class divide and lasting historical biases between machers and shnorrers in Chicago’s early Jewish community.

Join us to explore this fascinating chapter of Chicago history and see how these stories continue to shape the city today.

Free RSVP: https://www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/sta/chi/ver.cfm?event_id=27267715

This program is presented in partnership with the , the , and the .

Image 1: A bilingual English-German broadside advertising a Haymarket Square labor meeting, Chicago, Illinois, May 4, 1886. Courtesy of Chicago History Museum.

Image 2: Image of riot after police raid furniture workers' meeting in the first Vorwaerts Hall from Harper's Weekly, August 18, 1877. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

Image 3: Front cover of booklet titled ‘The Chicago Riot: A Record of the Terrible Scenes of May 4, 1886’ by Paul C. Hull, illustrated by True Williams. Published in New York and Chicago by Belford, Clarke & Company in 1886. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

Image 4: Broadside authored by August Spies calling for his fellow workingmen to take up arms after the riot at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company plant, Chicago, Illinois, May 3, 1886. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

Upcoming viewing hours for LATERAL ENTRANT, a site-specific exhibition by Maya Nguyen that explores migrant strategies of camouflage and adaptation.

PLEASE NOTE
Please register in advance on Eventbrite and bring a state- or federally-issued photo ID for check-in in the 150 N. Michigan building lobby. Once registered, visitors may access the Goethe-Institut Chicago at any point within the timeframe listed in order to visit the exhibition.

Register for free: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/public-viewing-hours-maya-nguyen-lateral-entrant-tickets-1986860415989?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

The Goethe-Institut Chicago is a multi-use space and there may be concurrent activities or event set-up taking place during exhibition viewing hours. The exhibition will also be on view during public events.

Join us Thursday, April 9th from 5-8pm for the opening of LATERAL ENTRANT, a site-specific exhibition by Maya Nguyen that explores migrant strategies of camouflage and adaptation.

Moving between languages, time zones, and visual cultures that connect Vietnam, Germany, and the United States, Nguyen considers translation as a form of arrival. Titled after the German word 'Quereinsteiger,' which refers to someone with nontraditional training who transfers into a new professional field, LATERAL ENTRANT is installed throughout the Goethe-Institut Chicago's space and responds to its environment in an office building. Incorporating video, photography, and performance, this exhibition considers coincidence, misinterpretation, and analogy as tools for investigating both individual biographies and broader experiences of migration.

Refreshments will be served; please register in advance via Eventbrite. Graphics designed by Eli Harrell.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/exhibition-opening-maya-nguyen-lateral-entrant-tickets-1985988484017?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true