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25. October 2021

Come in Tent Festival – Re-Enactment of Things

Re-Enactment of Things
25.-31.10.2021
M.Bassy & MARKK

To get a deeper picture of Hamburg’s colonial history, the project “Re-Enactment of Things” focusses on all so-called ‚looted objects’. The countless items that German colonialists have stolen, appropriated and mislabeled.

Our work begins with a reflection on the concept of European identity: Humanism the so called great invention of the occident – based on the binary system of ‘objects’ and its counterpart the ‘subject’. Only a subject is ‚human’, with the power to act, since it is capable of reason: „I think, therefore I am“ – the foundation of white, male, hegemonic power. A system that did not only legitimise colonialism – it actually fueled it: white man’s carte blanche to take ownership of the entire planet and turn everything that doesn’t ‚think‘ into a category that doesn’t ‚exist‘. Countless ‘objects’ have been exploited, enslaved, killed, humiliated, used for ‘scientific’ purposes like racial theories, or exhibitions. Now these ‘objects’ have opened up a debate about their colonial past. The last witnesses who become vital actors and narrators of a story that is ready to be told, to be re-enacted, to be re-enchanted, to be re-animated.

Re-Enactment of Things will tell the stories of THINGS in many ways. The narrative of THINGS will guide the curatorial work and define a different space of performative practices like conversations, lectures, performances and visual arts in relation to and in conversation with so called ‚objects‘.
„With this work, we would like to present a different perspective of the world, away from provincial binary power concepts. Come in Tent and dive into a deep and complex world of interrelationships, entanglements and different knowledge systems.“

Curation: Claude Jansen, Bisrat Negassi Dramaturgie/Produktion : Katja Kruglikova, Anja E. Redecker / PK3000 Fotografie: Simone Scardovelli Film: Manuel Marano Grafik: JUNO Hamburg Assistenz: Pauline Schönfelder, Leah Lomb

Find the program here: https://come-in-tent.com/projects/re-enactment-of-things