Finissage: Stand in Solidarity! Black Resistance and global Anti-Colonialism in Berlin, 1919- 1933
To conclude our joint exhibition, we warmly invite you to our finissage at the Charlottenburg-Wilmerdorf Museum!
4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Exhibition tour with curator Bebero Lehmann
In the political forcefield of the Weimar Republic, between the end of monarchy and colonial rule, the ascent of communist internationalism and the rise of the National Socialists, Berlin became a postcolonial metropolis in a largely colonial world: migrants from Germany's withdrawn colonies in Africa already lived here. The city also became a center of attraction for numerous actors from North African, Asian and Arabic regions.
Coming from different colonial contexts, they became politically active, formed anti-colonial alliances, demanded independence for their countries of origin and resisted racism. Although the motives and circumstances of their stays differed, moments of solidarity emerge that are made visible by the exhibition. The Communist International (Comintern) played a central role, which provided a common political language and financial resources.
The exhibition is the result of a cooperation between the Museum Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and the afrodiasporic and decolonial organizations of the project network Dekoloniale Memory Culture in the City. The design is made by Studio visual intelligence.
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6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.: Film screening of the staged reading »Greetings from afar" by Lulu Jemimah, with a greeting from Lulu Jemimah
In December 1930, a remarkable theater performance of »Sunrise in Morning Land« was shown in the Kliems Ballroom in Berlin-Neukölln. Inspired by Black theater productions in the USA and Paris, actor Louis Brody wrote »Sunrise in Morning Land« and staged the revue with dozens of members of Berlin’s Black communities. Brody and his colleagues took a decisive stand against the common racist, exoticizing ways of portraying Black people. The production also contributed enormously to strengthening the transnational connections in which Black Germans were active at the time.
»Greetings from afar« is a restaging and staged reading of »Sunrise in Morning Land« written by Ugandan writer, producer and media consultant Lulu Jemimah, as part of the Dekoloniale Berlin Residency 2022. Using research and interviews, she compares the anti-colonial activism of Black people in the 1930s with contemporary negotiations about identity and activism in today's Berlin (2020s).
Actors: Savanna Morgan, Serge Fouha, Roy Adomako
Participation in dramaturgy: Philip Khabo Koepsell
Scenography: Maya Alam
The staged reading and the greeting will be shown in spoken English and with German subtitles.
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6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.: Panel discussion: Black cultural productions and activism in the Weimar Republic (and to this day)
In the subsequent panel discussion, the staged reading and the exhibition will be discussed together. Black cultural and resistance history is also brought into connection with current issues of Black cultural productions and activist self-organizations.
With Bebero Lehmann (moderation), Abenaa Adomako (granddaughter Bebe Mpessa/Louis Brody), Philip Khabo Koepsell (dramaturgy “Greetings from afar”) and Sandrine Micossa Aikins (tba)
The panel discussion will take place in spoken German.
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Participation is free of charge. Please register for the finissage via e-mail to museum@charlottenburg-wilmersdorf.de or by telephone on 030-90 29 24 106. If places are available, spontaneous participation is also possible. Information on accessibility can be found here..
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