Opening with the lecture performance Decolonizing Knowledge by Grada Kilomba
n the 19th century Alexander von Humboldt held his KOSMOS lectures in the Berlin Singakademi —today's Maxim Gorki Theatre. He brought knowledge from various countries back to Berlin and reported on his trips around the world. During the season 2015/16, with the series KOSMOS² curated by Grada Kilomba, we want to grapple in the course of ten events with issues of knowledge transfer and knowledge production today. Who has access to knowledge and the opportunity to share it, and if so, then what knowledge? Who talks to whom, and about what?
In KOSMOS² artists whose lives have been shaped by fleeing will give lectures. They live in Berlin, but their knowledge cannot find a way into the conventional academic or cultural-institutional spaces for the dissemination of knowledge. We will be opening the series with three events during the Herbstsalon, artists will provide insight into their work. The author, theorist and interdisciplinary artist Grada Kilomba will give an introduction into the topic and moderate the talks.
KOSMOS² LABOR #1: WISSEN
Through her lecture performance Decolonizing Knowledge Grada Kilomba will give an introduction into the topic of the series KOSMOS². Using a collage of her literary and artistic work, she raises questions concerning knowledge, ›race,‹ and gender: Who can speak? and What can we speak about? To touch this colonial wound, Kilomba creates a hybrid space, transforming the configurations of knowledge and power.
Curated by Grada Kilomba. In cooperation with Maxim Gorki Theater.
