Group Excursion to Ballhaus Naunynstrasse, Berlinale and Museums in Berlin

Between 21st and 23rd of February our Group made a Research Retreat in Berlin. On the first day, after a theoretical discussion on apparatus/dispositif, we visited Monira al Qadiri’s exhibition “Usurper” at the König Galerie and in the evening the performance “1000 Serpentinen Angst” directed by Anta Helena Recke at the Maxim Gorki Theatre.

On the following day went to two exhibitions: “Solidarisiert Euch!”, on Black resistance and global anti-colonialism in Berlin between 1919 and 1933, at Villa Oppenheim, and  “On Rape – And Institutional Failure” by Laia Abril at C/O Berlin. In the evening we watched Lola Arias film “REAS” at Berlinale Forum, which was followed by a public discussion with the artist.

On the last day we visited the exhibition about the Afro-North-American dancer Josephine Baker at the Neue Nationalgalerie and the colonial exposition of the (highly controversial!) Humboldt Forum. In the evening the artistic director of Ballhaus Naunynstrasse warmly guided us through the house and talked to us about their history, artistic and political position and attitude. There we watched “Tracing a Memory, pt. III” by Curaçaoan artist and activist Quinsy Gario. We finished the evening and our excursion by talking to several artists and activists associated with Ballhaus Naunynstrasse, such as the Brazilian academic and artistic researcher of Black Theatre José Fernando Peixoto de Azevedo.