What will the future of our political thinking look like? This was the underlying question of the event named "Woodstock of Political Thinking" on November 20-22, 2009.

The exhibition "TASWIR" deals with the crossfire of traditional Islamic art in the context of modern artistic positions and takes place from the 4th of November 2009 till the 18th of January 2010 in the Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin. It will be accompanied by a series of workshops concerning und extending the topic of the exhibition. The results will be shown in a portable online guide.

The Grantmakers East Forum (GEF) met in Berlin on November 10-12, 2009 and invited grant-makers to discuss how we can respond to the crisis both in terms of reducing the uncertainties and benefiting from the opportunities it offers.

Please have a look at our new projects in 2010.

In order to enhance the intercultural encounter and knowledge exchange in Odessa (Ukraine), the summer school for students of the Elite Network of Bavaria's (Elitenetzwerk Bayern) Eastern European Studies course, from 09/24/2009-10/07/2009, thematically focused on "Revolutions in the 20th Century in Eastern Europe".

The "European Borderlands" project has been running for several years and is an initiative of the Allianz Kulturstiftung and the Literary Colloquium Berlin (LCB) in cooperation with international writers. In September 2009, the literature festival featuring trips by authors to Europe's easternmost borders lead to Belarus and Lithuania – two of Eastern Europe's neighbouring countries connected by a long mutual history and at the same time separated from one another by the external frontier of the Community.

In 2009 the Stifterverband conferred its highest distinction, the Richard Merton Badge of Honor, on Dr. Henning Schulte-Noelle, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Allianz SE, cited for his service in the furtherance of science and the foundation spirit.

Europe as a real experience and not only as an object of scientific consideration. That was the main idea of the Allianz Summer Academy (ASA) which took place in the Allianz Group Management Institute in Kempfenhausen at the Lake Starnberg from July 29 until August 02, 2009. Five days long the students have exchange their opinions and ideas on that issue in presentations and workshops.

The honorary Symposium "FUTURES OF MODERNITY" for and with Ulrich Beck brought together an avant-garde of critical thinkers to offer their interpretations of the coming challenges, their social dynamics and political implications, such as Bruno Latour, Richard Sennett, Mary Kaldor, Navid Kermani and Wolf Lepenies. The event took place on the 24th of July, 2009 at 8:45 a.m., in the main building (Hauptgebäude) of the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich.

From June 17 till 28th, 2009, the developed performances and videos of the project "6M1L's EXTENSIONS" could be experienced at the festival In-Presentable/La Casa Encendida in Madrid. Under direction of Xavier Le Roy and eight other artists, eight students had examined and developed new conceptual approaches and work methods for the production process in the area of performance art.

The new newsletter of our cooperational project "What to affirm? What to perform?" with dates beginning in May 2009 is now available online. The next events (until October 2009) will take place at four venues: Tanzquartier Wien (Vienna), CDU Center for Dramatic Art (Zagreb), CNDB Centrul National al Dansului Bucureşti (Bucharest), and Maska (Ljubljana).

In frames of the "Double-Memory" series of the Society for Promotion of Culture in Extended Europe and the Foundation Rehabilitation in cooperation with the Allianz Cultural Foundation, the 9th debate about 'What can and what will Europe learn from its history?' took place at the Humboldt University Berlin. This time, the event was related to the 'Forum History' and was moderated by Roger Boyes. The disputation was between Ivan Krastev (Sofia) and Mark Leonard (London).

From April 30 till May 11, 2009 there has been a series of events in London, exploring contemporary European society and arts. The festival offered a broad variety of public events for free - as for example symposia, political debates, theater performances, installations, movie screenings, literary discussions, and a congress for new transnational politics and culture. The London Festival of Europe is an initiative of European Alternatives and is supported by the Allianz Cultural Foundation.

After the last rehearsal phase in the beginning of May 2009, there have been two final concerts of the International Compositions Seminar 2008/2009 in cooperation with the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt and Munich: On Sunday, May 10, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. at "Haus DEA" in Frankfurt and on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. at the "Muffathalle" in Munich. The six young composers presented their new compositions for the first time in public.

A complete live-recording (MP3), a video abstract of the fifth lecture of the 'Debate on Europe 2009' and a video interview with Wolfgang Ischinger are now available online. The files are located on the right hand side on the webpage of the fifth lecture.

Young people not as yet established composers and musicians, especially those from Eastern Europe, gain access to the production resources of the EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO in workshops as well as further training in the field of new live electronic music under the guidance of selected professors. The workshop will take place from June 15-21, 2009. Please hand in your applications directly at the EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO until May 25, 2009 at the latest.

In lecture 5 on Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 11 a.m., Wolfgang Ischinger, Igor Ivanov, Parag Khanna and Pierre Morel debated at the State Opera House Unter den Linden, Berlin, about a possible new security architecture for Europe. What relationship should Europe have with its powerful neighbor Russia and how dependable will the alliance with the USA continue to be under the new American President? The event was the closing event of the successful series "Debate on Europe" 2009.

A complete live-recording (MP3) and a video abstract of the fourth lecture of the 'Debate on Europe 2009' is now available online. The files are located on the right hand side on the webpage of the fourth lecture.

A videoclip offers insight in the work of Gustavo Dudamel teaching the three young talents of the International Conductor's Academy 2008/2009, published on the homepage of the Philharmonia Orchestra London. The Academy has been finished with a concert on March 26, 2009, at the Royal Festival Hall in London, where the young conductors Matthew Coorey, Anna-Maria Helsing and Christian Schumann presented works of Verdi, Mozart and Beethoven with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

In lecture 4 on Sunday, March 15, 2009, Robert Glasser, Prabhu Guptara, Sunita Narain and Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber debated at the Allianz Foundation Forum Pariser Platz, Berlin, about the climate change and the consequences for the affected, poor countries. The discussion series "Debate on Europe 2009" will be finished with its 5th lecture "Europe's New Security Architecture" on April 5, 2009, at the State Opera House in Berlin.

On March 9, 2009, a reading with panel discussion in the context of the project "European Borderlands" took place at the Allianz Stiftungsforum Pariser Platz in Berlin. The authors Volker Braun (Germany), György Dragomán (Hungary), Jaroslav Rudiš (Czech Republic) and Olga Tokarczuk (Poland) were invited to the event with the topic "Revolution and Literature 1989-2009". Moderator has been the literary critic and author Jörg Magenau.

A complete live-recording (MP3) and several video abstracts of the third lecture of the 'Debate on Europe 2009' are now available online. The files are located on the right hand side of the the third lecture.

In lecture 3 on Sunday, February 15, 2009, Michael Heise, Harold James, Jean-Claude Juncker and Peer Steinbrück debated at the Allianz Foundation Forum Pariser Platz, Berlin, if the rescue packages are combating the causes of the current financial and economic crisis or if they are simply treating the symptoms? The discussion series 'Debate on Europe 2009' will offer two more panels with diversified topics on March 15 and on April 5, 2009 at the Allianz Foundation Forum Pariser Platz and the State Opera House, Berlin.

A complete live-recording (MP3) and a video abstract of the second lecture of the 'Debate on Europe 2009' is now available online. The files are located on the right hand side of the the second lecture.

In lecture 2 on Sunday, February 1, 2009, Zaha Hadid, Thomas Krens, Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh and Michael Schindhelm debated in the State Opera House Unter den Linden, Berlin, about the role of 'Western Culture' in Asia and the Arabic World. The event was moderated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, member of the Advisory Board of the ACF and Director of the Serpentine Gallery, London.

A complete live-recording (MP3) and a video abstract of the opening event of the 'Debate on Europe 2009' is now available online. The files are located on the right hand side of the the first lecture.

On January 25, 2009 opened the annually initiated lecture series 'Debate on Europe' with a round table of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Karel Schwarzenberg and the French State Secretary for Europe, Bruno Le Maire. At the National Opera House they stated their position referring to the question 'The World at a Crossroads – What is the Position of Europe?'. The discussion series will offer four more panels with diversified topics from February 1, up till April 5, 2009 at the National Opera House and The Allianz Foundation Forum Pariser Platz in Berlin.