Berliner Herbstsalon - taking time

Part 2

Reflections on the Maxim Gorki 4th Berliner Herbstsalon: De-Heimatize It!
an art exhibition, conference, Young Curators Academy exploring the theme of Heimat

Yesterday I was in Bonn and went to the Haus der Gerschichte, or museum of contemporary German history. I could have used another 2 days to explore the exhibits and really absorb the information I was learning.

Looking at the economic history of post-WWII, it becomes apparent how US interests shaped West German economic development. I wish I had more time to explore that thread.

While at the Herbstsalon last week I attended three lectures presented by artist Donna Miranda about the struggle for autonomy from the economic extraction from funders and corporations outside of the Philippines. We heard from one of the chief peace negotiators, learned the history of the struggle from the time of Spanish colonialism and the galleon trade between the Philippines and Mexico, about the US purchase of the Philippines (and Guam and Puerto Rico) for $20 million from Spain and about the current incarceration and killings of activists in by the government.

Donna, who is a choreographer by training, decided to take her skills and look at movement outside of the dance studio. She first looked at the choreography of nature by mapping the typhoons that hit the Philippines. Later she examined the body as part of collective political actions. Through the activist archive she curated and the lectures she presented, she shared aspects of the Filipino story that is little recognized both inside and outside of the Philippines.

The museum and the lecture series both presented the complex story of a nation.

These forms illustrate that sometimes a story needs a longer time to tell in order to provide context and help an audience understand a point of view that is foreign or far removed from an audience’s lived experience.

I want to share one more reflection on the Herbstsalon exhibition, about a video installation by South African artist Grada Kilomba, and her use of mythology to tell a different story. I will write about this tomorrow.