Deep-Source Eruptions: Cracking Open the Legacy of German Colonialism in Namibia | WARP & WEFT
Zwoisy Mears-Clarke, Elena Polzer und Kollaborateur*innen
Unfortunately, it is not possible to show the work Geneigter by Zwoisy Mears-Clarke in the festival. But we are happy to include three artistic formats from the project’s development process in the program instead: Zwoisy Mears-Clarke’s research process on the legacy of German colonialism in Namibia and the genocide of the Ovaherero and Nama resulted in interviews with Namibian activists, a zine, and the new text AN INCANTATION FOR THE DEAD AND THE LIVING by Fatin Abbas.
ZINE:
A rip in the fabric exposes both the internal material and that which lies beyond it. Between 1884 until 1915, the land and its dwelling population that was claimed as German South West Africa was ripped apart by Germany implementing various violent strategies such as the Nama and Ovaherero genocide. This harm enlists the victim, the perpetrator, and the affliction in an entanglement of relationships, as suggested by Bayo Akomolafe. And thus, connected threads that cross land, language, nation state, culture, knowledge, ecology, sea, and body are exposed by that rip. In the spirit of visible mending, the Warp and Weft zine engages in repair work that deliberately makes this rip visible and turns it into a feature of the fabric. It is adorned with the contributions of Ronny Dempers, Tjeripo Katjanuga, and Vitjitua Ndjiharine that trace the crossings of the Nama, Herero and German modern linguistic and cultural spaces and given a finish by the artists Kerem Halbrecht, Zwoisy Mears-Clarke, Elena Polzer, and Neda Sanai. The zine is bilingual (German and English).
Cast
Concept: Zwoisy Mears-Clarke & Elena Polzer
Featuring the words of: Tjeripo Katjangua, Ronny Dempers, Vitjitua Ndjiharine
Graphic Design: Elena Polzer
Graphic Design Support: Kerem Halbrecht
Audio File Support: Neda Sanai
German Translation: Utku Mogultay, Elena Polzer
INTERVIEWS:
In conversation with Zwoisy Mears-Clarke, nine Namibian activists, Ronny Dempers, Sam Geiseb, Mbakumua Hengari, Ida Hoffman, Tjeripo Katjangua, Nandiuasora Mazeingo, Esther Utijua Muinjangue, Vitjitua Ndjiharine, and Michael Uerikua, trace their stories, starting from the time of German colonialism. That (re)tracing of history is twisted; it’s braided; it’s lined up; it’s curled; it’s nappy. In those conversations, the days of the death of important chiefs during German colonial occupation is tied together with the days of communal feasts is tied together with translating for your son so he can speak to your father is tied together with the Otjiherero radio programs started during apartheid South African rule is tied together with trips to UN meetings in the U.S is tied together with funeral as classroom is tied to German soldier going back to Namibia to reclaim his mixed child after the first world war to the United Kingdom’s Blue Book to taking a taxi from the airport straight to the village. Excerpts of these interviews have been artistically transformed by POC Stories and Mona Okulla Obua into what is now “Deep-Source Eruptions: Cracking Open the Legacy of German Colonialism in Namibia.” The videos are in English with German, English, and German Sign Language subtitles.
Cast
Artistic Direction, Interviewer: Zwoisy Mears-Clarke
Video and Visual Concept: Mona Okulla Obua
Conversation Partners: Ronny Dempers, Sam Geiseb, Mbakumua Hengari, Ida Hoffman, Tjeripo Katjangua, Nandiuasora Mazeingo, Esther Utijua Muinjangue, Vitjitua Ndjiharine, Michael Uerikua
Editing of Original Recordings: REFLEKTORFILM
Content Editing: POC Stories
Transcription: David Bloom, Katherine Evans
German Sign Language Translation: Stephanie Zouhair
German Translation: Utku Mogultay
German and English Subtitles: Mona Okulla Obua, Annebel Ugrinsky
Production Management: Elena Polzer
Production Assistance: Yvonne Sembene
LECTURE:
“An Incantation for the Dead and the Living: On the German Genocide of the Herero and Nama” is a text by author Fatin Abbas (www.fatinabbas.com). In the text, the author traces the thread from German South West Africa (present-day Namibia), to sitting down at the computer finishing her doctoral thesis in Boston, to drinking tea while listening to the interviews Zwoisy Mears-Clarke conducted with eight Namibian activists (available for viewing here at digital Favoriten) in her current home in Berlin, and everything else wrapped around, in, over, and under. Preceding the text’s birth, Zwoisy asked Fatin: How is it as BIPOC diasporic folkx currently living in Germany to grab hold of the thread that is permanently wound around German wealth and through its colonial capitalism practices such as the genocide of the indigenenous communities the Ovaherero and Nama and under those communites and around Namibia and stretches back to many other places? How is it for each of us to keep hold of that thread? Do you think you, like I am trying to do, would escape the white time continuum if you kept hold of it? The text made its debut at the Warp and Weft event at SAVVY Contemporary Gallery in Berlin on January 20, 2022. There it was read in the original language, English, by Zwoisy.
Cast
Text: Fatin Abbas
Performance: Zwoisy Mears-Clarke
Documentation: TINT Filmkollektiv
Credits
ZINE
A project by the Warp & Weft GbR. Produced in collaboration with SAVVY Contemporary and ehrliche arbeit — freelance office for culture. Funded by the Projektfonds Zeitgeschichte und Erinnerungskultur der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa des Landes Berlin.
INTERVIEWS
A project by Zwoisy Mears-Clarke and Mona Okulla Obua. Supported by the NATIONAL PERFORMANCE NETWORK – STEPPING OUT, funded by the Minister of State for Culture and Media within the framework of the initiative NEUSTART KULTUR. Assistance Program for Dance.
LECTURE
A project by Fatin Abbas. Produced in collaboration with the Warp & Weft GbR, SAVVY Contemporary and ehrliche arbeit — freelance office for culture. Funded by the Projektfonds Zeitgeschichte und Erinnerungskultur der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa des Landes Berlin.