As a direct
response to the horrors of World War II, the United Nations were created as an
international forum for peacebuilding and conflict resolution. On October 24,
1945, the UN-Charter entered into force. On the occasion of the 75th
anniversary of this day, the Rwandan poet and singer Kivumbi King and his
fellow-musician Kaya Free from Burundi are kicking off an artistic
collaboration honouring the spirit of the Charter as well as the victims of
wars, state crimes and political violence.
The artists give special attention to the colonial rule in
German East Africa, modern-day Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. Whereas Tanzania
is remembering the traumatizing years of German colonialism by commemorating
almost 300,000 deaths, Germany's hold hardly plays a role in Rwanda's or
Burundi's heritage practice. The artists are tackling this discrepancy by
scrutinizing the life and time of Richard Kandt, resident on behalf of the
German Emperor in Rwanda between 1907 and 1914. It is reported that the
explorer was a charismatic figure in his time. In fact, he is well-respected in
Rwanda until today, since his former residence in Kigali is now a natural
history museum named after him.
King’s and Kaya’s creative output is reflecting Kandt’s work
against the backdrop of the destructive consequences of German colonialism in
Africa. Their cultural production
is called "More About Richard Kandt" (M.A.R.K.) and is committed to
explore new ways of cooperation in order to shape a future that transforms both
the colonial and the postcolonial mind-sets.
M.A.R.K. is made possible by the Burden of Memory project fund, provided by the Goethe Institutes in Cameroon and Namibia. The fund supports cultural practitioners from Africa, who work on the confrontation with the German colonial past in their countries and offers to deal with the negative consequences of German colonialism in Africa.
