RESIST! ConversationsALL in ONE!

Friday, December 3, 2021, 6 pm

What contradictions are embedded in the foundations of the “ethnological museum”? How can we transform them and create new museum ethics for the future?

In the context of the exhibition RESIST! The Art of Resistance, an experimental exhibition about 500 years of anti-colonial struggles in the Global South, the RJM invites you to an evening of discussions with international speakers and fighters. Restitution, reparation and participation are at the center of the debate. Join us and shape the future of the museum together.

With Felwine Sarr (Senegal-online), Ciraj Rassool (South Africa-online), Nana Oforiatta Ayim (Ghana), Bénédicte Savoy (France-online), Andreas Görgen (Germany), Peju Layiwola (Nigeria), Elizaveta Khan (Germany). Moderated by Rahab Njeri (Germany).

Music by Rokia Bamba (Belgium).

We look forward to seeing you!

The admission is free. As the number of participants in the discussion room (VHS Forum) is limited, the debate will also be broadcast in the foyer of the museum.

The discussion is in English with simultaneous German subtitles. The event will be live streamed online via www.rjm-resist.de and our RJM YouTube channel.

4-6 PM: The Cologne based collectives Coach e.V., Jugendfreizeitwerk Köln e.V. and in-Haus e.V. will share insights about their work in the exhibition.

On the day of the event, the exhibition will be open until midnight.

COVID Regulation: Please note that proof of recovery or complete vaccination AND a negative test are required to attend this evening (2G+).

Depending on the pandemic situation at the time of the event, supplementary measures may also be taken. Please check the website www.rjm-resist.de for more information.

The participants:

Bénédicte Savoy is an art historian and expert on restitution. In her latest book, “Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat,” she traces more than 50 years of struggle by African states for the return of their artworks stolen by European colonial rulers.
Ciraj Rassool is a professor of history at the University of the Western Cape and does significant work on issues of fundamental reformulation of museum work in Europe and Africa, which includes the restitution of colonial cultural property.

Filmmaker, curator, and writer Nana Oforiatta Ayim is the founder of the ANO Institute of Arts and Knowledge, which articulates how Ghanaian, African, and diasporic thinking contributes to overcoming the urgent challenges and obstacles currently facing Africa and the world.

As head of the Department of Culture and Communication at the German Foreign Office, Andreas Görgen leads negotiations and preparations for restitutions of Benin bronzes from German museums with Nigeria.

The Nigerian artist Peju Layiwola has been dealing with looted cultural objects from the Kingdom of Benin for decades. In 2010, her solo exhibition “Benin 1897” was the first exhibition about this looted art in Nigeria. “Benin 1897” is also the name of the autonomous space that Peju Layiwola curated for RESIST! The Art of Resistance curated.

Elizaveta Khan, the founder and chairperson of Kölner Integrationshaus e.V., actively campaigns against racism and for the improvement of life realities and opportunities, especially for people with a refugee and migration experience. For RESIST! The Art of Resistance, she curated the autonomous space “No Resistance Fits in a Box” with a collective of designers, artists and activists.

Felwine Sarr is a social scientist, author and musician. In March 2018, together with Bénédicte Savoy, he was commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron to prepare the return of French looted art to Africa. He is considered one of Africa’s most discussed thinkers. Together with Bénédicte Savoy, Felwine Sarr was selected by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in 2021.

Moderation:
Rahab Njeri is committed to issues around environmental racism and social justice. She works at the Department of Gender and Diversity Management at the University of Cologne as a consultant for racism critique, strategy development for racism critique and antidiscrimination, and racism critique consulting for university staff.

Nanette Snoep has been director of the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum since January 2019.

Ricardo Márquez-García is junior curator of the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum since February 2020. For the exhibition RESIST! he is the exhibition coordinator.