Upcoming / Shadow#4:
Closing event with Josephine Apraku and more tbc, Friday, 29th of October 2021, 19:00
An exchange with performances, lectures and conversations about interdisciplinary experiences and strategies in dealing with colonial heritage.
SAVVY Contemporary, Reinickendorfer Straße 17, 13347 Berlin
“Monumental Shadows – Rethinking Colonial Heritage” is an artistic exploration of Germany’s colonial heritage and current culture of remembrance. The project runs from August to the end of October 2021 in Berlin and is divided into four parts, so-called “Shadows”. In different formats, the participating artists* and speakers* will question the effects of colonialism to the present day.
The starting point is the experience that German colonialism is often played down in public discourse. It thus lies in the shadows for many people and at the same time casts a long shadow over the lives of many.
The project is initiated by artist duo Various & Gould and developed in cooperation with Colonial Neighbours a project by SAVVY Contemporary.
Contact: vasb@zbahzragny-funqbjf.arg
The event kicked off with an urban intervention by Various & Gould at the Bismarck statue in Berlin’s Tiergarten, Großer Stern, 10557 Berlin. Using a technique related to papier-mâché, the two artists and the Colonial Neighbours team have temporarily molded the monument and removed this paper shell from its pedestal.
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
02.–21.08.2021
Performative process: paper molding of the Bismarck statue
The artists duo Various & Gould temporarily concealed and molded the Bismarck Monument (1901 by Reinhold Begas) with multiple layers of paper.
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
Bismarck knocked off his pedestal
21.08.2021
Various & Gould’s working process has been accompanied by an artistic intervention by Daniela Medina Poch and Juan Pablo García Sossa. (See following photos!)
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
On the last day of work at the statue, the paper form has been opened …
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
… and taken down from the pedestal under the eyes of dozens of visitors.
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
At the same time, Daniela Medina Poch & Juan Pablo García Sossa scratched a large lettering in the path to the monument:
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
“DAS ZENTRUM VON GESTERN, DIE SPLITTER VON HEUTE”
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
View from the scaffolding at the monument: Fragmentary pieces of the Bismarck paper shell (Various & Gould) and lettering intervention (Daniela Medina Poch & Juan Pablo García Sossa).
„Gospel of Wealth“, urban performance by Thomias Radin with Natisa Exocée Kasongo, Jumoke Adeyanju & Delawhere.
The fragments of the paper-Bismarck from Shadow#1 were part of this performance on the Open Monument Day, 12th of September 2021.
The location of the event is another public square that bears a history of violence in its name: Nettelbeckplatz, which commemorates the colonial propagandist and slave trader Joachim Nettelbeck.
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
Gospel of Wealth
Viewing life as a gold rush will result in worshiping the golden calf and the golden rule becomes that those who have the gold, rule!
Spirituality drops out! Morality drops out!
Collateral damage. The myth of the one over the existence of many.
Many of you, many of us, many of them, many of me are echoing inside the empty shell of the one.
Bigidi !
Move forward!
Bigidi bigidi, head up fast forward!
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
‚GOSPEL OF WEALTH‘ questions the impact of the glorification of a western colonial figure and its heritage within the individual and collective consciousness, from an Afro-diasporic perspective. From Nigeria through Congo to the Caribbean.
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
In the performance, we encounter several mythologies, embodied by sonic and danced intervention. We aim to open a new conversation acknowledging and valuing collectivity over the myth of a political figure and material wealth.
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
Concept : Thomias Radin (Guadeloupe/FR)
Performers: Natisa Exocée Kasongo (Congo/FR), Jumoke Adeyanju (Nigeria/DE), Thomias Radin
Sound artist: Delawhere (FR)
Photo: Raisa M. Galofre Cortés
September-October 2021
Workshops with schools
In artistic and creative workshops, we will work with pupils on remembering, history, colonialism and racism.
Friday, 29th of October 2021, 19:00
„A Place in the Sun“ & its long shadows | Closing Event
With Josephine Apraku and more tbc.
SAVVY Contemporary, Reinickendorfer Str. 17, 13347 Berlin
To close the Berlin chapter, we invite you to an exchange with performances, lectures and conversations about interdisciplinary experiences and strategies in dealing with colonial heritage.
A participatory project in public space knocking colonial figures off their pedestal and shifting the shadows of past and present.
Even though more and more European countries are beginning to come to terms with their colonial history, deep shadows dominate their commemorative culture. Formerly colonizing and colonized countries are linked by a complex, violent past that reverberates to the present day. The art project „Monumental Shadows“ explores commemorative culture and deals with artworks and monuments that continue to inscribe colonial history in public space.
In a combination of artistic collaboration, thematic debate, and public discussion, the project makes visible connection between colonialism and contemporary racism. Within the framework of „Monumental Shadows“, the artists are planning a series of seven artistic paper casts of monuments in Europe. Against the historical background of the Berlin „Congo Conference“ (1884/85), these monuments have a connection to European colonialism in Africa. Today they are located in countries that were significantly involved in the conference and continue to benefit from it to the present day. The selected monuments and the historical figures associated with them are still positively portrayed or even glorified in the historiography of their respective countries (and beyond). By honoring them through public monuments, the colonial exploitation and imperialist atrocities for which they are responsible are concealed, downplayed, or glossed over. On the one hand, their part in colonialism lies in the shadows for large sections of society, while on the other hand, their actions still cast a shadow over the lives of many people.
The aim of the project is to demonumentalize these monuments by symbolically knocking them off their pedestals and charging them with new meanings. In the visual design of the cover, we address the respective monument and its colonial history. Through the lightness and malleability of the paper, their transience becomes visible.
Subsequently, the resulting molds are performatively deformed in „Ver-Formances“ through which they become tangible. This shows: History is not static, and we are all part of it. Our concern is to break the power of white narrative on colonialism by proposing a change of perspective. In doing so, it is important to stop reproducing the Eurocentric views and narratives. It is long overdue to bring more light and attention to the historiographies and narratives of People of Color, which have often been silenced and ignored until now. A society critical of colonialism and racism can only emerge with their voices as integral parts of a collective commemorative culture.
In Berlin, the project will run from August to the end of October 2021 and is divided into four parts, so-called „Shadows“. In various formats, the participating artists and speakers will address the traces and effects of colonialism up to the present day.
The Berlin based artist duo Various & Gould works in close collaboration since 2005. After studying at the Berlin-Weissensee School of Art (KHB), the artists graduated under the tutelage of Prof Alex Jordan (Grapus collective) in 2010. Various & Gould are known for constantly reinventing themselves. Whilst methods of screen-printing and collage are their speciality, their art can also emerge in a public performance or an installation as they like crossing borders and do not stick to a certain medium. Various & Gould often deal with socially prominent themes such as work, migration, gender, death, religion or the financial crisis in a playful, intuitive manner.
Colonial Neighbors is a long-term project by SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin. It is a participatory archive and research project which invites international artists, historians, cultural scholars, curators and other activists to engage with German colonial history and its aftermath in the present.
Artistic Direction: Various & Gould
Curation: Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock
Projekt Management: Britt Janina Heinker
Curatorial Assistance: Lili Somogyi, Antonio Pedro Mendes
Additional artistic intervention: Daniela Medina Poch & Juan Pablo García Sossa
Performance: Thomias Radin, Natisa Exocée Kasongo, Jumoke Adeyanju & Delawhere
Production Assistance: Billy Fowo, Sagal Farah, Jörg-Peter Schulze, Alina Kologriwaja, Ahmed Isam Aldin, Mohamedali Ltaief, Sh. M. Mudassir
Management: Lema Sikod
Communication: Anna Jäger
Accessibility: Annika Hirsekorn
Simple Language: Christina Stark
Design: Juan Pablo García Sossa
Photo Documentation: Raisa Galofre
Video Documentation: Frederic Leitzke (editude pictures), Florian Lampersberger
The project is funded by Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa des Landes Berlin and Berliner Projektfonds Urbane Praxis, with kind suppport by Zapf Umzüge.