Imagining the Otherwise

Sustaining the Otherwise is a collaborative research and artistic project about restitution, reparation and transformation, conceived and initiated by curators Amal Alhaag and Selene Wendt.

Imagining Otherwise, part of the final chapter of Sustaining the Otherwise, actively engages with the topic of restitution by centralizing performance-based artistic practices that question and confront the tensions of colonial terror and the (im)possibility of reparations, rematriation, and freedom. Restitution involves an ongoing, collective process that questions and re-frames how we think about the care and afterlife of cultural heritage, including both material and immaterial culture. The process itself is guided by a sustained ancestral, spiritual, communal and epistemic invocation and the relentless and unforgiving practice of ‘freedom and refusal.’

The three-day program at and around Nordic Black Theatre, brings together contemporary art practice, sound-based art, music, and archival research into a live exhibition format. Imagining Otherwise offers an opportunity for audiences to experience what it means to rethink restitution, and to witness artistic practices that stretch the notion of restitution beyond a conversation about the return of cultural heritage objects. The performances, lectures, sonic sessions, DJ sessions, sound-based invocations, site-specific activations in public spaces, and a live concert are opportunities to see, hear and feel what it means to rethink restitution within a collective space of knowledge exchange across geographies.

Artistic activations that engage the public and spark critical thinking about place, history, memory, and belonging are integral to the program. Also highlighting artistic practices that engage directly with public spaces, Imagining Otherwise extends into the streets, gardens, parks and historical sites surrounding Nordic Black Theatre. Overall, the performances convey the importance of memory work and practices of freedom and refusal, and drive home the significance of remembering, sharing knowledge and learning (as well as unlearning) as intrinsic to rethinking restitution. Here, the power of performance as a method to negotiate the space between history, place, and self, and the choreography of sound and movement, can be seen as acts of resistance that effectively transform the topic of restitution from conversation to action.

Performances by Damien Ajavon, A k u z u r u, Rehema Chachage, Soñ Gweha, Luanda Carneiro Jacoel, Neo Muyanga, Robel Temesgen, Helena Uambembe and Waldane Walker, as well as a live concert by Bafana Isaac Nhlapo & Solo Diarra, and DJ sessions by Selecta Harmony and Cliff Moustache, offer multiple entrance points for rethinking restitution.

The three-day program is free and open to the public. 

More information coming soon.