The performative, digital conference can be attended on December 10 via YouTube HERE . Curated by Mahret Ifeoma Kupka and Isabel Raabe. Film programme curated by Nnenna Onuoha. With: Josephine Apraku, Nikita Dhawan, Timea Junghaus, Brunn Morais a.o. How does the Europe of the era of Romanticism look at the world? And how does Romanticism still shape …
The performative, digital conference can be attended on December 10 via YouTube HERE.
Curated by Mahret Ifeoma Kupka and Isabel Raabe.
Film programme curated by Nnenna Onuoha.
With: Josephine Apraku, Nikita Dhawan, Timea Junghaus, Brunn Morais a.o.
How does the Europe of the era of Romanticism look at the world? And how does Romanticism still shape Europe's self-image today?
UNEXPECTED LESSONS #3 is a performative symposium. [Symposium is another word for a meeting or conference. Performative means: there is action and speech at the conference]. It takes place digitally. Together we look critically at the Romantic period. We question the ideas of this time. Because it still has an effect in Germany and in Europe today. In art and in politics.
In talks, lectures, artistic actions, film and music, the programme is dedicated to the question: Are colonial and the ideas of Romanticism connected? [Colonialism means that many countries in Europe used to think that their inhabitants were worth more than the inhabitants of other countries. For example in Africa. That's why they have the right to conquer these countries, to oppress and murder the people. They have determined the politics in these countries. And they have stolen many things from these countries. Art, for example. Spices. Raw materials. Or drugs. The European countries found: All this is their right. They can make the people in the colonies work for them as slaves. They have the power over them].
We go back to the roots of today's Europe. What makes up European culture? We look at the time of the Enlightenment and Anti-Enlightenment. [The Enlightenment period lasted from 1720 to 1800, during which time people thought that through thinking and reasoning they could achieve progress in all areas]. [The Anti-Enlightenment wants to restore an old state of affairs. It wants to turn back the developments of the Enlightenment]. We are dealing with the history of the Sinti and Roma, between adaptation and othering. [Othering means: a group of people decides that other people or groups do not belong]. We ask what the relationship is between colonialism and Romanticism. And we talk about romantic love and power.
The event is part of the transdisciplinary TALKING OBJECTS LAB. [Transdisciplinary means: it is research from different angles and fields, not only from the point of view of science]. The TALKING OBJECTS LAB organises events, artistic actions and artist:in residencies. [Residency means: working residencies for artists.]
The events deal with these themes: Decolonisation, Knowledge and Memory, Rethinking Museums and Archives. [Decolonisation means: we acknowledge the mistakes and exploitation of colonisation and do something about it today].
The event is planned and organised by a team of curators from Kenya, Senegal and Germany. Part #1 and #2 of the event took place in Berlin/Nairobi and Reykjavik respectively. Part #3 will now follow in cooperation with the Kunsthalle Osnabrück as part of the annual theme of Romanticism.
The event will be held partly in German and English. Participation is free of charge and without registration.
The exhibition is kindly supported by Kulturstiftung des Bundes, Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, Niedersächsische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, VR Stiftung and Freund:innen der Kunsthalle Osnabrück.
Timetable
17:00
Welcome by Isabel Raabe (TALKING OBJECTS LAB)
17:05
Welcome by Juliane Schickedanz and Anna Jehle (Directors Kunsthalle Osnabrück)
17:10
Introduction by Mahret Ifeoma Kupka (TALKING OBJECTS LAB)
17:30 Lesson 1
Enlightenment - German Orientalism and Counter.Enlightenment
Input Nikita Dhawan (Political Scientist, TU Dresden)
18:00 Lesson 2
The ultimate romantics - How Roma influenced national characters, the idea of the artist and the avantgarde
Input by Timea Junghaus (Art historian, Director of the European Institute for Arts and Culture/ERIAC)
18:20
Talk with Nikita Dhawan and Timea Junghaus
18:50
Break
19:00 Lesson 3
Love and Romantik
Reading of Kluft und Liebe by and with Josephine Apraku (author)
19:45
The Window of Love
Performance by and with Brunn Morais.
20:00
Film programme, curated and commented by Nnenna Onuoha (visual anthropologist and filmmaker)
With:
Laura Huertas Millán, Journey to a Land Otherwise Known, 2011, 23 min, French, with English and Spanish subtitles
Philip Cartelli & Mariangela Ciccarello, Lampedusa, 2015, 14 min, Italian, French, and English, with English subtitles
20:30
End