Sithara Weeratunga – författare

Transnational artistic creation has become a matter of course in our globalized world. But what did migrant art production look like in the GDR? The volume highlights, among other things, the cultural diplomacy of the GDR and its effects, employment relationships of contract workers and taboo racism.Foreign artists from the socialist brother countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Israel or Uruguay studied at the art academies of the GDR. What became of them and why they are not mentioned in retrospectives on GDR art? Their works are now the center of attention. At the same time, the history of immigration and the memory of reunification are told from the perspective of East German migrants.

Nicht nur in ethnologischen Museen, sondern auch in kulturgeschichtlichen Museen und Kunstmuseen gibt es einen großen Nachholbedarf im Umgang mit dem Kolonialismus und seinen Folgen, insbesondere im Umgang mit rassistischen Sammlungsobjekten. Die Aktivitäten von schwarzen und weißen Aktivist:innen in der Gesellschaft, ein neues Interesse an postkolonialen Forschungsansätzen an den Universitäten sowie das 360°-Programm der Kulturstiftung des Bundes zur Diversifizierung von Programm, Publikum und Personal in Kultureinrichtungen haben bundesweit zu einer erhöhten Sensibilisierung für die Thematik des rassismuskritischen Kuratierens bzw. Ausstellens geführt. Der vorliegende Band versammelt Beiträge zu diesem Themenfeld, die aus einer wissenschaftlichen Tagung am Bremer Focke-Museum hervorgegangen sind.There is a lot of catching up to do in dealing with colonialism and its consequences, in particular in dealing with racist objects not only in ethnographic museums but also in cultural history museums and art museums. The activities of black and white activists in society, a new interest in postcolonial research approaches at universities and the 360° programme of the Federal Cultural Foundation to promote diversification of programmes, audiences and staff in cultural institutions have led to an increased awareness of the subject of racism-critical curating and exhibiting throughout Germany. This volume presents contributions from an academic conference at Focke Museum in Bremen.