18 November 2019
Colonial Repercussions V: The Namibian Case
Symposium on 29 November 2019, Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz
The issue of (post)colonial injustice is more present than ever before in legal and cultural policy debates in both Germany and Europe. Still, this development towards addressing the past has not had much impact in the successor states of former colonies. The symposium's goal is to trace the complex repercussions and interdependencies of German colonization in present-day Namibia and to increase their visibility in Germany. To this end, speakers from the law, politics and the arts will present perspectives on the effects of colonization, a potential constructive approach and exchange with German civil society.
The event is part of the series “Colonial Repercussions”, which understands the history of colonialism as a common process of remembering, coming to terms with and shaping the future. This is the third symposium about the Namibian case organized by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and the Akademie der Künste, in a cooperation with the German Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb. The first discussion in January 2018 was followed up by a conference in Windhoek in March 2019 as part of a “Week of Justice”. Now, the issues addressed there will be mirrored back in Berlin.
With contributions by, among others, Ida Hoffmann, representative of the Nama Genocide Technical Committee, John Nakuta, an expert in international law, and the artist Isabel Tueumuna Katjavivi. In her multimedia installation They tried to bury us, Katjavivi has created a place of remembrance of the Ovaherero genocide, which will be shown for the first time in Berlin.
“Colonial Repercussions” is a joint event series by the Akademie der Künste with the Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb.
Programme
Friday 29 November 2019
2 pm WELCOME
by Johannes Odenthal (Director of Programming, Akademie der Künste, Berlin) – with a short introduction of the artistic photo documentary of Ixmucané Aguilar – Wolfgang Kaleck (General Secretary, European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, ECCHR, Berlin) and Wolf Iro (Head of Culture Department, Goethe-Institut, Munich Head Office)
2:30 pm KEYNOTE
by Joshua Castellino (Executive Director of Minority Rights Group and Founding Dean of the School of Law, Middlesex University, UK) and Sima Luipert (Deputy Chairperson of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association Technical Committee on Genocide, Namibia)
3:15 pm PANEL I: ADDRESSING COLONIAL INJUSTICE THROUGH THE LAW
with Ida Hoffmann (Chairperson, Nama Genocide Technical Committee, Namibia), Alexandra Kemmerer (Senior Research Fellow and Academic Coordinator, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Berlin), John Nakuta (Human Rights and Administrative Law Lecturer and Media Ombudsperson at the University of Namibia) Moderation: Judith Hackmack (Lawyer, ECCHR, Berlin)
5:30 pm VISIT of the multimedia installation They tried to bury us (2018/2019)
by Isabel Tueumuna Katjavivi
6 pm PANEL II: LIVING MEMORIES – ARTISTIC POSITIONS AND MEMORY POLITICS
with Isabel Tueumuna Katjavivi (Visual Artist, Namibia) Trixie Munyama (Dancer, Performer, Choreographer and Teacher, Namibia)
Moderation: Johannes Odenthal
7:30 – 8:15 pm CLOSING REMARKS
with Alejandra Ancheita (Founder and Executive Director, ProDESC, Mexico), Jessé de Souza (Sociologist, Universidade Federal do ABC, Brasil / Sorbonne Université, France), Thomas Krüger (President, Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb, Germany)
Event Information
Colonial Repercussions V: The Namibian Case
Symposium: 29 November 2019 from 2 pm
With Ixmucané Aguilar, Alejandra Ancheita, Joshua Castellino, Ida Hoffmann, Isabel Tueumuna Katjavivi, Sima Luipert, Alexandra Kemmerer, Trixie Munyama, John Nakuta, Jessé de Souza
Multimedia installation: 29 November – 8 December 2019, 11 am – 7 pm
Isabel Tueumuna Katjavivi, They tried to bury us, 2018/2019
In English, free admission
Twitter: #colonialrepercussions and #decolonize
Press tickets, photos: presse@adk.de, Tel +49 (0)30 20057-1514
Detailed programme available at: www.adk.de/colonial-repercussions