Who is commemorated in the city, and how? Who decides what we remember? How will we remember in the future?
The de:colonial monuments lab invites you to join an artistic walk. Baakenhafen is a central location in HafenCity, yet it has rarely been perceived as a place of remembrance. Along the route, multimedia works will be presented that explore questions of memory and colonial traces in public space.
The walk leads to various locations throughout HafenCity where visitors can experience works by students from HCU, HAW, and HfMT. Installations, sound works, performative interventions, and other artistic formats open up new perspectives on the history, present, and future of remembrance. Visitors are invited to explore these artistic perspectives together and to engage with questions of visibility, commemoration, and social responsibility.
The projects on display were created as part of the inter-university teaching project “de:colonial monuments lab,” which aims to make colonial traces visible, to question contemporary culture of remembrance, and to collaboratively design and test new perspectives on remembrance.
Accessibility Note: The walk is not accessible to people with disabilities and runs from Baakenhöft along Petersenkai to the MS Stubnitz. There are several sets of stairs and gravel paths along the route.
Content Note: This walk addresses topics such as colonialism, racism, violence, exploitation, and colonial rule. It may include historical sources, depictions, and terms that some may find distressing.
de:colonial monuments lab
Students at HafenCity University (Degree Program: Culture – Digitalization – Metropolis): Dijora Afuzi, Ellen Benkwitz, Henri Bolder, Inga Buschung, Naomi Diaz Gonzalez, Line Dytert, Lilli Flaig, Yuna Gang, Jans Hülsen, Bennet Jenkel, Sophia Kempe, Clara Losada, David Neumann, Immaculata Hiền Thơ Nguyễn, Anna Nottbrock, Karla Peikert, Ludwig Pyritz, Johanna Reinhardt, Merle Rönnpage, August Rotermund, Casper Steffan, Piet von der Heide, Eda Su Yildiz
Students at the University of Applied Sciences (major: Communication Design):
Kiwi Arntz, Marie Bachmann, Elsa Born, Freddy Franz, Ngoc Anh Ngyuen, Lyna Nhan, Camila Helguero Pantoja, Hannah Peter, Aaron Plasterk, Elena Krauss, Jonathan Schönau, Nilo Segger, Pai von Kruszynski
Students at the University of Music and Theater (degree program: Culture and Media Management):
Tim Baumann, Léon Biecker, Hendrik Felske, Olivia Kusch, Klara Lübkert, Sheida Mohammadi, Ann-Leonie Niss, Antonia Padge, Marjolaine Pora, Martha Prokop, Johanna Sambeth, Nell Scheffler, Lasse Seelhoff, Mia Luca Sengelmann, Anik Strass, Alessandra Strutzke, Ella Vandré, Anita Volovik, Nora Wagner, Charlotte Wessolowski
Concept & seminar leaders: Kajan Luc & Vera Heimisch
The project is funded by the Claussen-Simon Foundation’s Higher Education Fund and carried out by the Institute for Culture and Media Management at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater. Partner institutions: HafenCity University Hamburg, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.