Haus der Kulturen der Welt celebrates the finale of O Quilombimo

Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) celebrates the finale of O Quilombismo. Of Resisting and Insisting. Of Flight as Fight. Of Other Democratic Egalitarian Political Philosophies with a series of tours and workshops, a closing party and a performance of Oscar Murillo’s Parque Industrial.

The final day of the exhibition also marks the publishing of the O Quilombismo Album, a visual documentation of the reopening weekend and the O Quilombismo exhibition, featuring over 100 illustrations and installation views.

On the weekend of 2–4 June, HKW  reopened its doors with O Quilombismo, the first programme under the new leadership of Director and Chief Curator Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung.

O Quilombismo invited artists, activists, scholars, and people from other walks of life to imagine new forms cohabitations and convivialities, of cultural and political resistances through diverse emancipatory projects, past and present. The project’s point of departure is the philosophy of quilombismo as developed by Brazilian artist, author, and politician Abdias Nascimento (1914–2011), who defined the quilombos—communities created by escaped and emancipated enslaved people—as societies of ‘fraternal and free reunion, or encounter; solidarity, living together, and existential communion.’ The tradition of quilombist struggle and resistance has existed, factually, throughout the Americas, from the earliest decades of the 1500s, when African enslaved populations refused to submit to European colonization and oppression and founded new forms of statehood and organization, and, metaphorically, the quilombist struggle is a humanitarian struggle throughout the world. Central to the exhibition is—in the words of writer and philosopher Sylvia Wynter—a ‘quest for a free space from where to wage the ongoing process of revolt against the cultural colonization.’

The group exhibition, boasting over 70 artistic contributions, spanned the newly named rooms inside the building, as well as the gardens and flagpoles of the outdoor grounds, the newly constructed architectural pavilion, and the roof terraces. Music and dance enthusiasts had the chance to take part in the Bullerengue workshops and experience the new festival series Sonic Pluriverse on the Paulette Nardal Terrace. While science-affine visitors were enchanted by the AI festival, Ancestral Immediacies, literature aficionados were beguiled by the Middle Ground festival and the International Literature Prize. Particularly popular, as well, were HKW’s newly initiated childcare programmes in the Lili Elbe Garden and the Children’s Discoteque that regularly took place at the pavilion in the Semra Ertan Garden.

This overwhelming enthusiasm has made O Quilombismo one of HKW's most popular programmes of the last 25 years.

On the final day of the O Quilombismo project, we express our gratitude to all the artists, collaborators, our colleagues at HKW, and, above all, the public who supported the show. We have inhabited together this special exhibition in the months after the reopening of HKW, trying to learn from each other how a house with a loaded history can become a home for a plurality of artistic, sonic, political, intellectual, and spiritual worlds. Between gardens, reimagined spaces, and acts of performativity, we are thankful to have ignited a collective experience of living culture—a convivial, porous, and open house that is primed for the coming years.

Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung:
“The incredible adventure called O Quilombismo is coming to an end, physically, but still stays with us philosophically and will continue to shape this institution in the next years. It was a vessel for a multitude of unforgettable events, a site of deep learning, exchange and a source of joy and connection. We give thanks and praise to all the artists and contributors and everybody who has worked so hard on making this happen – and especially to our visitors who have explored O Quilombismo with so much curiosity and enthusiasm. Much gratitude.”

O Quilombismo is framed by a wide-ranging education programme. The School of Quilombismo took up contents of the exhibition and translated them into formats beyond an educational canon. It will continue to manifest itself in various formats and media as an ongoing project in the years to come.

Further Information
hkw.de/quilombismo
hkw.de/actsofopening
hkw.de/congorama
hkw.de/pressphotos

Partners
O Quilombismo: Of Resisting and Insisting. Of Flight as Fight. Of Other Democratic Egalitarian Political Philosophies is funded by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation). In association with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation as part of the PARTENARIATS GULBENKIAN programme to support Portuguese and Lusophone art in European artistic institutions. HKW wishes thanks IPEAFRO / Afro-Brazilian Studies and Research Institute for their collaboration.

Visit Information

Opening Times
Wed.–Mon. 12:00–19:00
Extended opening hours during evening programmes.

Free admission on Mondays and on every first Sunday of the month (Museumssonntag Berlin).

Childcare with programme
HKW offers free childcare for many of its programmes. For further information visit hkw.de

Current information about visiting and accessibility.

Weltwirtschaft Restaurant is open daily, from 12:00–00:00 on weekdays and 10:00–00:00 on weekends.

Contact

Jan Trautmann

Pressesprecher
Lead Communications Officer
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin

T: + 49 (0) 30 397 87 157
presse@hkw.de