CITYMAKERS

Before the First World War, Germany had the fourth colonial domination worldwide, yet it does not play a major role in historical perception. Current events and incidents show that racist power structures have not been adressed historically, colonialism hasn’t been worked off in German discourse yet and it is long overdue to take action. When dealing with German colonialism, it seems that espacially the colony and concessions in China (Qingdao, Wuhan, Shanghai, Tianjin, Beijing) often seem to be neglected and unknown. This videowalk invites historians and sinologists to explain Germany’s role in the colonization of China. In context with (post)colonialism they examine the significance of street names and reflect about alternatives. A film by Kollektiv Raumstation.

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About the filmmakers

• Founded 2013 in Weimar, Kollektiv Raumstation has emerged as an interdisciplinary platform for motivated city makers also in Berlin and Vienna. Raumstation is a catalyst to rethink and revive the urban space, to play with it and finally make it a place for exchange and common experiences. The collective works with experimental explorations of space, artistic and activist interventions and activating processes. Within its work, the role of inhabitants is crucial: as daily life experts, as recipients and initiators of change, as makers – as those, who finally count.
• A video-walk by Kollektiv Raumstation members: Laurenz Blaser, Dilan Erkisi, Saskia Hirtz and Silvan Hagenbrock

Credits

• Lea Schneider, ZHU Yijie, Mechthild Leutner
• Poem translated by Brad Schmidt
• Supported by Goethe-Institut China and CITYMAKERS China-Europe