Reconstructing Memory
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| free admission |
| no ticket required |
| Duration: 60 min |
| English |
| Mechanical Arena in the Foyer |
| Part of: Guestroom |
| Belongs to: Ethnological Collections and Asian Art |
Reconstructing memory – working on a collaborative archive
Historical photos and sound recordings are not only important contemporary documents of past eras – they are also carriers of collective traumas and emotions. Experiences of violence are inscribed in them, as are moments of resistance and empowerment.
In this edition of Gästezimmer, the Cameroonian author and film maker Augustine Moukodi and the curator at the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin Gina Knapp talk about ways in which audio-visual documents can be contextualised and reinterpreted without denying their painful character.
In the case of Cameroon, the German colonial era and the associated atrocities have left indelible marks on the collective memory: Numerous photographs and sound recordings made during the German colonial period in Cameroon are physical documents of that time. They are archived in the collections of the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin.
Project statement
“Our intention is to reconstruct our memory.
Our aim is to use an artistic approach and conceptualise an exhibition with selected audiovisual archival elements in the Hörraum and the Cameroon exhibition in Humboldt Forum.
Our hope is to open a new perspective on the painful events of colonialism, while preserving its serious character, respectful of the pain of the people who experienced such hardship.”
Biographies
Augustine Moukodi is a Cameroonian writer-producer and independent researcher in colonial and post-colonial history. After studying management and administration, Augustine entered the world of audiovisual production with the aim of tackling sensitive social issues and promoting her research. She is president of the production companies Zili Jungle Studios and Racines Mboa, where she has been producing and directing historical and cultural film projects since 2012.
Her career includes the production of a children’s TV series, “Game Over Show”, broadcast in the Central African sub-region from 2012 to 2014. In 2016, her collaborative research on the German-Cameroon treaty led to the production of the Cameroonian historical TV series “Our Wishes”, directed by Jean Pierre Bekolo. In 2017, she exhibited this series at the Leopold Museum during the Vienna International Festival.
Regina Knapp is the curator for visual anthropology at the Ethnologisches Museum & Museum für Asiatische Kunst Berlin. She is working with the photo and film collections in the museum’s archives, organises film screenings and festivals and is herself an anthropologist and filmmaker with extensive research and filming experience, especially in the South Pacific. Her primary regional interest lies in Papua New Guinea, the country of her birth and early childhood.