Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) and the Goethe-Institut London expressly distance themselves from the antisemitic and historical revisionist conspiracy theories expressed in the keynote address given by Dr Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala at HKW on 25 January 2025. These statements are to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. We deeply regret that this derailment has occurred and apologize to all visitors and participants. 

Those statements are not only false but also deeply contradict the humanistic principles for which HKW and the Goethe-Institut London stand.

Dr Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala was invited to give a lecture on the relationship between gender and cosmologies in the African context as part of Rising from the Ashes, a congress on restitution and reparation. It is unacceptable that the thematic framework was abandoned in this way.

Both HKW and the Goethe-Institut London have terminated their cooperation with Dr Litchfield-Tshabalala with immediate effect and rule out any future collaboration.

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There are as many cosmologies as there are over three-thousand recognized languages and cultures throughout the continent. However, the notion of an Afrikan cosmology is rooted in the persona of the Originator (God in religion) and the two strata of sacred hosts under them. The Originator’s sex is almost always undisclosed, yet the Deities and the Ancestral hosts compose of all sexes and a fluid gender construct. Furthermore, both sexes come into being simultaneously. Therefrom flows ubulungisa, the ontological concept of justice in Nguni culture, which is much more than the western understanding of justice. It is a continuous process of a balancing act permeating all aspects of life and afterlife. Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala’s keynote examines the integral relationship between gender and cosmologies in Africa, emphasizing how traditional beliefs often refrained from assigning gender to originators. It delves into the gender-neutral nature of many African languages and how these structures fostered societal balance.