Recently, exhibitions and symposia in various places in Germany have increasingly explored the exchange between the so-called brother countries and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Research is dedicated to historical material and personal memories and endeavours to reassess the relationships between the GDR and states such as Angola, Cuba, Ghana, Mozambique, and Vietnam. These initiatives have primarily found a response amongst cultural audiences; to date the theme has hardly found its way into  school classrooms or the general educational context.

Within the framework of the project Echoes of the Brother Countries,  Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) cooperates with three schools whose pupils, together with contemporary witnesses and artists, have carried out artistic research work on this theme. Further partner institutes have supported this process. With reference to the students’ own migration stories, the echoes from the ‘brother countries’ were explored in lessons at the three schools and brought to life in artistic works in the HKW exhibition.

How can this knowledge, beyond project work in exchange with cultural institutions, be communicated in a school and extra-curricular context? Why is this chapter in German migration history not part of the general educational canon, and what are the consequences of this omission? With what strategies, with what institutional partnerships can this gap be closed? At this network meeting, representatives from the educational sector and institutions working on similar questions discuss future strategies. 

With:
Julia Oelkers (Dezentralbild, bruderland.de), Lisa Hölscher (MoCom: Motion Comics als Erinnerungsarbeit), Emiliano Chaimite (Dachverband sächsischer Migrantenorganisationen e.V., Afropa e. V.)
Christine Schoenmakers (Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung)
Dejan Marković (MORUS-Oberschule)
Katharina Steins (Lernort Albertinum)
Moderation: Nguyễn Phương Thúy and Eva Stein