Thinking transhistorically across anti-colonial, anti-war and anti-apartheid solidarity movements with speakers:
Noor Nieftagodien, Wits History Workshop,
Ulrike Kistner, University of Pretoria
Jo Bluen, LSE, South African Jews for free Palestine (SAJFP)
Hosted by Bettina Malcomess, Wits School of Arts.
WHY GERMANY
An international lecture series addressing the crackdown on free speech in Germany and beyond. Within Germany, some of the most effective actors in the intimidation of Palestinians and their allies over recent months have been cultural venues, art schools and universities. The hostility towards advocacy for Palestinian lives has surpassed recent escalations across Europe or the USA: the lockstep is more thorough, the language more hateful, the measures more extreme. With the help of historical perspectives and specific case studies of German art schools and universities, this series addresses the eclipse of free speech and its ramifications for local cultural landscapes, but also for neighbors and allies – not to mention for Palestine itself. These weekly lectures are co-hosted by a network of institutions that grows over time. By means of a rolling program, it creates a space for creative, informed and considered expression. Importantly, the series will move beyond critique alone, to propose strategies for the future: which languages, alliances, policies and support systems might ensure a measure of autonomy in the longer term?
Participating Institutions
• L’Observatoire des Mondes Arabes et Musulmans (OMAM), Université libre de Bruxelles
• De Appel Amsterdam
• SWOP Institute & Department of Fine Arts, Wits University Johannesburg
• Academy of Fine Art at Oslo National Academy of the Arts
• Zurich University of the Arts
• Center for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths University of London
• School of Architecture Royal College of Art London
• Ashkal Alwan, Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts, Beirut
• Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm
• Dutch Art Institute
• The Racial Reckoning in Art and Performance, Yale University
