SAVVY Contemporary presents this discursive programme WIR SIND ALLE BERLINER: 1884-2014, that commemorates 130 years of the Berlin Conference and proposes a space for deliberation on the repercussions of this crucial conference, offering thereby an occasion to analyse the ideological, economic, political, and humanitarian justifications that underlay colonialism and still frame the asymmetric relations between the West and the non-West today.

The accompanying programme to the eponymous exhibition will consist of keynote lectures, roundtable talks, screenings and workshops with students, as well as performances and concerts. Outstanding thinkers and artists will deliberate on the history of the Berlin Conference, as well as reflect on strategies of (non-) remembering.

November 2014 marked the 130th anniversary of the Berlin Conference and the official partitioning of Africa by Western (European, North American and Ottoman) colonial forces – in absence of African representatives. Against this backdrop, the exhibition WIR SIND ALLE BERLINER: 1884-2014 recalls this determining moment in world history and its severe and ongoing repercussions, as well as it reflects upon Berlin’s historical and contemporary bond to Africa.

The exhibition and the accompanying discursive programme offer a critical knowledge sharing platform on the Berlin Conference, on past and current socio-political and economic phenomena in a Europe of flourishing nationalism and racism, as it deals with issues like migration flow or border and identity politics.

The symposium as well as the workshops will address the political, cultural, economical and psychological consequences of this event of systematized colonialism, which still echo in various forms in our contemporary.

A Project by SAVVY Contemporary in Cooperation with ICI Berlin | Institute for Cultural Inquiry.

Concept: Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung with Elena Agudio, Anna Jäger, Saskia Köbschall

PART II – Keynote Lectures, Roundtable Discussion, Workshops, Performance, Concerts, Film Screenings

Thursday, 26th February – Sunday 1st March 2015 

PARTICIPANTS:

Keynote Speaker: Manthia Diawara

Roundtable Panellists: Nana Adusei-Poku, Vanessa Agard-Jones, Kader Attia, Bilgin Ayata, Bili Bidjocka, Friedrich von Bose, Silvy Chakkalakal, Manthia Diawara, Imara Limon, Sarah Mazouz, Renée Mussai, Kien Nghi Ha, Peggy Piesche, Anupama Rao, Dierk Schmidt, Alessandro Triulzi, Francoise Vergès

Performances: Larry Achiampong, David Blandy, Qudus Onikeku, Ahmed Soura, Charles Sammons, Kelvin Sholar, Eric Vaughn

Workshops: Adam Bahar, Saraya Gomis, Jamie Schearer

Screenings: Filipa César, Theo Eshetu, Bodil Furu, FOKN Bois, Dagmawi Yimer

More details in the programme.

LOCATIONS:

ICI Berlin Institute for Cultural Inquiry | Christinenstraße 18-19 | 10119 Berlin

KuLe Theater | Auguststraße 10 | 10117 Berlin

Peninsula | Kremmener Straße 9–11 / Wolliner Straße 18–19 | 10435 Berlin

and SAVVY Contemporary | Richardstraße 20 | 12043 Berlin

http://savvy-contemporary.com