A de-colonial encounter on the strategies and utopias of resistance, remembering and healing in the port cities of Hamburg and Cape Town. Curated by Cornelia Knoll

The element of water carries and connects. Especially in non-Western contexts, its healing effect is well known. The colonial connections between Hamburg, Germany and Cape Town, South Africa still exist today. Many of them invisible, but their effects still felt. South Africa, and especially Cape Town, a vacation destination considered by many to be hip, is at the same time a country still marked by the trauma of colonialism and apartheid. The two port cities have many visible and invisible connections and commonalities, such as the ships of the Deutsche Afrika Linie, visibly anchored in the harbor of Cape Town regularly.

Conversations and exchanges that started in South Africa with Memory Biwa, Greer Valley, Meghna Singh, Zayaan Khan and Toni Stuart have continued and resonated since and are now crossing over to Hamburg/Germany. Some of these artists are coming to Hamburg for this first encounter to engage in a collaborative exchange and to create a temporary, open space to discover commonalities in a collective, informal gathering — to exchange about de-colonial practices of remembering and strategies of healing in Hamburg and in Cape Town. Connected by water, via the port cities, the aim is to explore these themes through the lens of this strong element, to mutually strengthen, learn and un-learn from each other and to be together.

Programme

Friday 11.11. 2022, 7pm – Filmscreening & discussion with filmmaker …thabo thindi
Black faces in white? space Film by …thabo thindi – the documentary film Black faces in white? space explores the dynamics and complexities of being Black in a country that views itself as homogeneously white¿ as witnessed by the filmmaker striving to create new perspectives about Blackness. . What does it mean to be Black in Germany?
Please reserve at: reservation@m-bassy.org

Saturday 12.11.2022, 1pm – 3pm – Workshop by Greer Valley
Reflecting on colonial traces and haunted spaces. In the spirit of Walking together as a way of feeling we want to collectively engage with harbor sites. Collective walking, thinking and mapping. Registration required.
Please reserve at: reservation@m-bassy.org

Saturday 12.11.2022, 7pm – Talk by Meghna Singh about her work and Installation

Saturday 12.11.2022, 8pm – Connected by water?
Collective Reflection and Conversation with Memory Biwa, Greer Valley, Meghna Singh & Cornelia Knoll
Please reserve at: reservation@m-bassy.org

Saturday 12.11.2022, 9pm – Sound performance by Robert Machiri
This encounter format in the form of a collaborative approach will mark the beginning of a longer-term creative exchange format and give the invited artists and curators a first opportunity to get to know the city of Hamburg and to exchange with local artists, activists and the wider public.

m-bassy.org