Deberlinization on 25, 26 and 27 April: 140 years of violent history after the Berlin Congo Conference
15.4.2025
Deberlinization: Refabulating the World, A Theory of Praxis
Conversations, Talks, Reading, Music, Screening
25.–27.4.2025
140 years after the Berlin Congo Conference of 1884/1885, at which the division of the African continent was decided without African participation, HKW is bringing together various actors: They look at the socio-political, cultural and epistemic consequences for Africa and the entire world. Based on a concept by the artist Mansour Ciss Kanakassy, they will discuss the possibility and conditions of a “de-Berlinized” world order that overcomes the 140-year history of violence.
At the end of the 19th century, at the height of imperial expansion, the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck convened a conference in Berlin in 1884 to organize the division of the African continent. Fourteen European countries, the United States and the Ottoman Empire took part. Their main aim was to secure their extractivist and commercial interests, which led to a profound fragmentation of Africa's political structures and left a lasting mark on its political, economic and social history.
For Africans, this process ushered in an era of resistance and struggle for self-determination. Despite the undeniable firepower of the aggressors, the division achieved on paper guaranteed neither control of this vast region of the world, nor the cultural and spiritual domestication of its populations.
140 years after this pivotal event, it seems urgent to unravel the structures knotted by the principles of colonial appropriation, identify their continuities, and settle their epistemological legacies.
The conference does this in the city where these structures were codified— bringing together practitioners from the fields of visual arts, performing arts, cinema, music, architecture, literature, economics, the humanities and social sciences, and politics. Their approaches and theses are documented in a comprehensive commemorative publication.
A quarter of a century ago, Mansour Ciss Kanakassy, an artist of Senegalese origin living in Berlin, came up with an original way of escaping the dilemma created by the Berlin Congo Conference: He founded the Laboratoire de Déberlinisation (Deberlinization Laboratory). With concepts such as a global passport and the AFRO currency, he offers tools for emancipation and for opening up new global perspectives beyond colonial constraints.
A special highlight will be the concert by Ivorian reggae musician Tiken Jah Fakoly, who will perform with his ten-piece band on the second day of the event and use his music to promote pan-African solidarity.
With Abdenour Zahzah, Abdourahman Waberi, Alioune Sall Paloma, Célestin Monga, Christine Eyene, Daniele Daude, Didier Awadi, Djelifily Sako, Fogha MC Cornilius Refem, Franck Hermann Ekra, Hildegard Titus, Hyam Yared, Ibou Coulibaly Diop, Julia Grosse, Ladan Osman, Maboula Soumahoro, Maguèye Kassé, Maame A.S. Mensa-Bonsu, Mahamadou Lamine Sagna, Mamadou Diouf, Mansour Ciss Kanakassy, Memory Biwa, Nikita Dhawan, N’Goné Fall, Raphaëlle Red, Seloua Luste Boulbina, Simon Njami, Simukai Chigudu, Soeuf Elbadawi, The String Archestra, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Yousra Abourabi, Ẹniọlá Ànúolúwapọ́ Ṣóyẹmí et al.
For accreditation and interview requests, please contact us at presse@hkw.de.
Programme
Friday, 25 April 2025
Deberlinization: Music, Poetry, Culture
Conversations, Talks, Reading, Music
Safi Faye Hall
In various languages with simultaneous translation into German, English, and French
Conference ticket per day: €5
Conference pass (package) for all three days: €10,50 (entitles you to purchase a reduced-price ticket for the Tiken Jah Fakoly concert)
14:00
Welcome Address
by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung
14:20
Deberlinization: Music
with Daniele Daude & The String Archestra
14:45
Presentation of the programme
by the co-curators Ibou Coulibaly Diop and Franck Hermann Ekra
15:00
Keynote by Mamadou Diouf
16:15
Deberlinization: Poetry
with Ladan Osman
16:45
Quand, quoi, comment et pourquoi? (When, What, How, and Why?)
Conversation between Mansour Ciss Kanakassy and Maguèye Kassé, accompanied by Djelifily Sako on the kora
17:30
Deberlinization: A Cultural Project
Panel discussion with Soeuf Elbadawi, Hildegard Titus, and Abdourahman Waberi, moderated by N’Goné Fall
Saturday, 26 April 2025
Deberlinization: An Economic, Political, and Philosophical Project
Conversations, Talks, Reading, Music
Safi Faye Saal
In various languages with simultaneous translation into German, English, and French
11:00
Deberlinization: A Political Project
Panel discussion with Yousra Abourabi, Simukai Chigudu, Maame A.S. Mensa-Bonsu, and Ẹniọlá Ànúolúwapọ́ Ṣóyẹmí, moderated by Alioune Sall Paloma
12:30
Deberlinization: Poetry
with Hyam Yared
12:55
Deberlinization: An Economic Project
Keynote by Célestin Monga
15:30
Deberlinization: A Philosophical Project
Panel discussion with Seloua Luste Boulbina, Nikita Dhawan and Mahamadou Lamine Sagna, moderated by Maboula Soumahoro
17:15
Deberlinization: Arts in Context
Panel discussion with Memory Biwa, Julia Grosse, Simon Njami, and Abdenour Zahzah, moderated by Christine Eyene
Concert
20:00
Miriam Makeba Auditorium
€24 / €20
The three-day conference pass (package) entitles you to purchase a reduced-price concert ticket
Conference pass for all three days: €10,50
Combining reggae, oral traditions, and social consciousness, Tiken Jah Fakoly is one of the most distinctive voices recording today. Originally from Odienné in the north-west of Côte d'Ivoire, he formed his first reggae band in the 1980s and called it Les Djelis: the Griots.
Fakoly, through his music and personality, stands for cohesion and pan-Africanism. With this in mind, he performs with his ten-piece reggae band at the Deberlinization — a musical highlight of the programme.
Sunday, 27 April 2025
Deberlinization: A Question of the Future
Conversations, Reading, Film Screening
Safi Faye Saal
In various languages with simultaneous translation into German, English, and French
12:30
Round table
with representatives of Afrika-Rat—Dachverband afrikanischer Vereine und Initiativen Berlin-Brandenburg [Africa Council—Federation of African associations and initiatives in Berlin and Brandenburg] and Decolonize Berlin
15:00
Deberlinization: Les Afrique(s) hors d'Afrique [Africa(s) outside Africa]
Reading by Raphaëlle Red
15:30
Raphaëlle Red in conversation with Fogha MC Cornilius Refem
16:20
L’argent, la liberté, une histoire du franc CFA [Money, freedom, a history of the CFA franc]
by Katy Lena Ndiaye, film screening
18:10
Musical Intervention
by Didier Awadi
Partner
The Deberlinization is a part of heimaten, supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media due to a ruling of the German Bundestag.
Visit Information
Opening Times
Wed.–Mon. 12:00–19:00
Free admission on Mondays.
Extended opening hours during evening programmes.
Childcare with programme
HKW offers free childcare for many of its programmes. For further information visit hkw.de
Current information about visiting and accessibility.
Weltwirtschaft Restaurant is open daily, from 12:00–00:00.
Contact
Jan Trautmann
Pressesprecher
Lead Communications Officer
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin
T: + 49 (0) 30 397 87 157
presse@hkw.de