Raymond Zhou's interview with Eric Messerschmidt

(Part 1)

Eric Messerschmidt profile

Eric Messerschmidt is director of the Danish Cultural Institute in China. He settled in China in late 2002 after visiting the country a couple of times. He found out that the phenomena that he initially took for off-springs of a society in transition are de facto constant elements of the Chinese mindset and therefore the main reason for China’s amazing drive, now and always.

The Beijing office of the institute was established in the fall of 2005 on the back of the worldwide celebrations on the bicentennial of Hans Christian Andersen. Its mission is to promote cultural exchanges between Danish and Chinese peoples and informs about Denmark by engaging in and supporting projects that aim at long-term cooperation between Chinese and Danish cultural and educational institutions, artists and other professionals within the creative industries.

Its activities range from presenting art and artists through exhibitions, concerts and stage performances to holding conferences and seminars on cultural and social issues as well as organizing study tours on subjects such as social matters and educational and cultural politics.