International Conference on 3-4 November 2023 at the Vorhoelzer Forum of the Technical University of Munich (Arcisstr. 21, 80333 Munich, Germany) and online:
Monuments and Sites de-colonial! will be dealing with the architectural relics of the German colonial era and investigating post-colonial strategies of appropriation and critical communication regarding these buildings. In addition to references to pre-colonial legacies, the focus lies primarily on the period of the German colonial era from around 1880 to 1920. The spectrum of case studies will refer both to the territory of the German Empire itself at the time, as well as to the former German colonies in Africa, East Asia and the South Pacific.
With regard to the identification, systematic inventory and visualization of colonial-era individual buildings and ensembles, of monuments and even entire cities and infrastructural landscapes, as well as of today's commemorative and memorial sites and places, the focus of interest is primarily on the political, civic and architectural / artistic forms of appropriation on site and the strategies of dealing with them in terms of scientific methodology and monument conservation.
The two-day symposium, with an introduction, 6 sessions with 23 papers of altogether 35 speakers and a final wrap-up discussion, intends to increase the visibility and knowledge of this architectural heritage from the German colonial era and to promote dialogue with today's custodians or those concerned on site.
The conference is a cooperation between ICOMOS Germany and the Technical University of Munich Munich (DFG Heisenberg-funded third-party project by PD Dr.-Ing. of Michael Falser).
Selected papers will be published after the conference in the series ICOMOS – Journals of the German National Committee.
Organizers: ICOMOS Germany and Technical University of Munich (TUM)
The organizing committee: Tino Mager, Gabriele Horn, John Ziesemer (ICOMOS Germany), and Michael Falser (TUM).
Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM)
Registration required (limited number of seats, online link): https://forms.gle/QbCkJF6RXRXgeGPG9
Contact Email: icomos@icomos.de
Further Information Contact: michael.falser@tum.de
The Programme Folder can be downloaded here
The Abstract Reader can be downloaded here
FRIDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2023
8:00 Registration
9:00 Opening and Welcome
Tino MAGER, President ICOMOS Germany
H.E. Hassan Iddi MWAMWETA, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania in the Federal Republic of Germany
9:30 Introduction to the Conference
Michael FALSER (TU Munich/Germany)
10:00 SESSION I: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGNS AND COOPERATIONS – INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH
Chair: Gabriele HORN (Shared Built Heritage/ICOMOS Germany, SPSG)
- Colonial Buildings in Tanzania: A Point of View from a German-Tanzanian Expert Mission (2018) about Status, Preservation Options and Future
Ralph EGERMANN (Büro für Baukonstruktionen, Karlsruhe/Germany) & Prisca KIRWAY (Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dodoma/Tanzania) - Collaborative Approaches to the (Built) ‘Shared Heritage’ of German Colonialism in Africa (Volta/Ghana and Pangani/Tanzania)
Jörg LINSTÄDTER & Cornelia KLEINITZ (German Archaeological Institute, KAAK, Bonn/Germany) - From Building Archaeology to Conservation Management of German Colonial Architectural Heritage in Cameroon
Martin ELOUGA & SALAMATOU (University of Yaoundé/Cameroon)
11:30 Coffee Break
12:00 SESSION II: MAPPING, INVENTORY, EVALUATION
Chair: Claus-Peter ECHTER (Shared Built Heritage/ICOMOS Germany)
- Documenting and Promoting German Colonial Buildings in Togo
Aka Adjo BEBEWOU & Komla HATO (University of Lomé/Togo) - German Colonial Architecture between Germany and Cameroon – Postcolonial Appropriation in a Decolonial Age
Richard TSOGANG FOSSI & Champolion MIACHE EVINA (TU Berlin/Germany, University of Yaoundé/Cameroon) - Interdisciplinary Approaches of Decolonization: Source Editing, Visual History and Exhibitions about the Early History of Tsingtau/Qingdao (China)
ZHU Yijie (Qingdao University/China) - Archaeological Perspectives on German Colonial Built Heritage in the Pacific – A Case Study on Apia/Samoa
Christian REEPMEYER (German Archaeological Institute, Berlin/Germany)
13:30 Lunch Break
14:30 SESSION III: HISTORIC PRESERVATION, CONSERVATION, APPROPRIATION
Chair: Richard TSOGANG FOSSI (TU Berlin/Germany)
- The International Settlement of Tientsin and the German Concession (1895-1917) – From History to Heritage
WANG Ruoran & XU Subin (Tianjin University, Tianjin/China) - German Fortresses in Northern Cameroon: Preserving Physical Remains and Memories of an Ultimate Resistance Against the Allies until 1916 ?
Narcisse Santores TCHANDEU (University of Yaoundé/Cameroon) - From Construction Material Research to Renovation: The German Architecture of Catholic Churches in Southern Tanzania
Nancy RUSHOHORA & Valence SILAYO (University of Dar es Salaam/Tanzania) - Historic Preservation of German Colonial Heritage in Tanga/Tanzania – the Work of the Tanga Heritage Centre (URITHI)
Joel NIGANILE & Mohamed MAJURA (The Tanga Heritage Centre – URITHI, Tanga/Tanzania)
16:00 Coffee Break
16:30 Session IV: USE, TOURISM, COMMODIFICATION
Chair: Sarah HEGENBART (TU Munich/Germany)
- Appropriation and Politics of German Colonial Heritage in Namibia: Alte Feste and Tintenpalast in Windhoek
Walter PETERS (University of the Free State/South Africa) & Jens WIEDOW (Namibian University of Science and Technology, Windhoek/Namibia) - The Gunzert House in Mwanza and the Iringa Boma Museum: Two German Colonial Building Sites in Tanzania Adapted for Contemporary Culture and Education
Delphine KESSY (St. Augustine University/Tanzania) & Jan KUEVER (University of Iringa/Tanzania) - The Harbour of Swakopmund/Namibia: Selling German Colonial Nostalgia in a Seaside Resort?
Martin KALB (Bridgewater College, Bridgewater/USA) - The Palais de Lomé (Togo): From a German Colonial Palace to an Art and Culture Center to Preserve Biodiversity and Celebrate Africa and its Diasporas
Sonia LAWSON (Palais de Lomé, Lomé/Togo)
18:00 End of the first Conference Day – Get-Together
SATURDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2023
10:00 SESSION V: COLONIAL MONUMENTS AND SITES OF MEMORY
Chair: Narcisse Santores TCHANDEU (University of Yaoundé/Cameroon)
- An Architectural Irony – The Mau Bandstand of Samoa
Lama TONE (University of Auckland/New Zealand) - The German Colonial School in Witzenhausen – A Controversial Crystallization Site of Different Memories and Memory Cultures
Marion HULVERSCHEIDT (University of Kassel/Germany) - Virtual Interference with Monuments. Augmented Reality, Colonial Heritage and the Example of the Kolonialkriegerdenkmal, Düsseldorf
Jens FEHRENBACHER (Ruhr University Bochum/Germany) - DECOLONIZE MÜNCHEN (2013) – Revisited: Opening and Diversification of Sites, Buildings and Spaces
Sarah BERGH (Dept. of Civic Education, Munich/Germany) & Modupe LAJA (Eine Welt Haus, Munich/Germany)
11:30 Coffee Break
12:00 Session VI: DECOLONIAL COMMENTS AND ART INSTALLATIONS
Chair: Sarah BERGH (Dept. of Civic Education, Munich/Germany)
- Between Demolition and Artistic Adaptation? The Afterlives of German Colonial Monuments in Africa and Germany
Joachim ZELLER (Berlin/Germany) - Colonialism and the Extraction of Landscapes – The Copper Mine in Tsumeb (Namibia) in Otobong Nkanga’s art installations (2015)
Sarah HEGENBART (TU Munich/Germany) - Confrontations: Lara Favaretto at “Skulpturenprojekte” Münster 2017 and the Train Monument (1925)
Christian BERGER (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz/Germany) - Bird’s Perspective – a Decolonial Gaze. Public Space Action in Cologne (2021)
Roberto URIBE-CASTRO (Berlin/Germany)
13:30 WRAP-UP DISCUSSION
Chairs: Tino MAGER (ICOMOS Germany) & Michael FALSER (TU Munich/Germany)
14:00 End of Conference