Kolonialismus erinnern. Vom Konzept zum Ort

How can a central site for learning and remembrance be created and designed to explore the history of colonialism and its continuities in Berlin? How can it be put into practice in present-day Berlin?

As the place where the colonial partition of Africa was consolidated at the Berlin Conference in 1884/1885, and as colonial capital during the German Empire, the city is steeped in the traces and legacies of its colonial past and therefore has a special historical and political responsibility. Given this background, the event ‘Remembering Colonialism: From Concept to Site’ explores a variety of perspectives from academia, art, architecture, activism and remembrance policy with the aim of sharing ideas on the conceptual and spatial foundation of a future central site for learning and remembrance, and on sustainable structures, collaborations and networks in the long term, with a wider audience. The event is rounded off by contributions from artists Ibrahima Niassy (aka Pisco) and Nathalie Vairac.

Nathalie Vairac reads from Felwine Sarr’s Traces – A Speech to African Nations (2021). The lyrical monologue written by the Senegalese economist, philosopher and writer Felwine Sarr addresses a new generation of African youths to embrace and envision a self-determined future. The text will be performed for the first time by the Senegalese artist and actor Nathalie Vairac (with German surtitles). With a new foreword by author Felwine Sarr.