Kunstverein Braunschweig

As part of a group exhibition, the Kunstverein Braunschweig will present a series of performances during the festival with contributions from international artists.

Exhibition
02.06. - 19.08.
DI – SO 11.00 – 17.00 Uhr
DO 11.00 – 20.00 Uhr

DOING THINGS WITH WORDS

In today’s digital world, materiality and the body appear to be losing relevance, however, a counter-trend can be identified in contemporary art: engaging with the body – as a form – and as an optimisable or performative tool is experiencing a boom, through which performance is also being reactivated as a genre and returning as an element in multi-disciplinary working methods. The invited artists all work in various dimensions of language as expression and action: as a tool for communication and a complex system of control, but also as poetry, sound and a physical means of expression.  

The exhibition will show both permanent works and sporadically occurring performances. The exhibition will cover the entire grounds of the Kunstverein, including the Salve Hospes Villa, the outside building and the courtyard and garden.   

Opening and summer party FRI 01.06. 19.00 Uhr

Colonial Neighbours:
A participatory archive and research project on the colonial history of Germany

The G E R M A N empire had an enormous impact on both the lives of those it colonized and the formation of modern G E R M A N Y itself. Today, however, knowledge of this history and its impact is hardly present in the
G E R M A N public sphere. Moreover, even after decolonization, colonial structures remain with us. Today, in times of globalization and continuation of imperial wars, migration is still occurring within C O L O N I A L structures. This system of racial and epistemic hierarchy, born in the era of high colonialism, still remains to be wholly challenged. 

C O L O N I A L Neighbours investigates
G E R M A N Y ’ S C O L O N I A L past, and its ongoing impact upon the present. The project aims to address gaps in
G E R M A N Y ’ S politics of memory by creating a public and living archive that consists of stories, objects, and other material and immaterial traces connected to the entangled histories between G E R M A N Y , the African continent, China and the Pacific, and other places that suffer(ed) under C O L O N I A L rule. 

C O L O N I A L Neighbours is a platform
where these histories, past and present, can be discussed, contextualized and shared. The project is a nonhierarchical platform for dialogue, exchange and collaboration. 

D O Y O U have objects or memorabilia, old or new, which you associate with Germany‘s colonial past? The item can be part of a family archive, a commercial product that catches your attention, a book you find on the flea market, a song you remember from childhood, or even words, anecdotes, fairy tales that reveal a German colonial history. Share with us the story behind them!

Funded by the TURN Fund of the German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes)