»La Palabre« refers to the social practice of public discourse, gathering, and conflict resolution in numerous countries on the African continent; the location is always a baobab tree, the “l’arbre à palabre”.
»La Palabre« deals with themes that we have developed over the past two years in symposia, talks, think tanks and artistic interventions as part of the TALKING OBJECTS LAB project. The impulse for each evening is input from the TALKING OBJECTS LAB (texts, video performances or lectures), on which one or two Berlin artists or speakers, especially from the BIPoC communities, work and discuss together with the guests. For the fixed ritual of eating together, we invite cooks, artists, anthropologists, poets, and initiatives that deal with the cultural practice of eating, food and its colonial entanglements.
LA PALABRE #4 - LEARNING LESSONS
Decolonizing Academia
The question of what knowledge can be today is at the core of our work in the Talking Objects Lab. American political scientist Cedric J. Robinson calls Black Studies a “critique of Western civilization”. Black Studies, African Studies, Afro-American Studies — how do these studies relate to each other, and how can Black knowledge be grounded in (institutional) scholarship? How can “unlearning” work in academia? As part of the Talking Objects Lab Online Talks “Mapping Academia” in December 2021, we have already talked with scholars* about this. For the »LA PALABRE« evening in Berlin, we would now like to open up the topic and discuss it beyond the academic context. What is black knowledge–within and outside the academic context? What empowerment and mediation strategies are there?
Talking Objects Lab curators Isabel Raabe and Mahret Ifeoma Kupka will show excerpts from the talk “Mapping Academia” with Noémi Michel, Alexander Gehdi Weheliye and Franck Freitas-Ekué, followed by a panel with Mahret Ifeoma Kupka and Andrea-Vicky Amankwaa-Birago sharing experiences from their work and research. Agie Biwersi aka Gambian Cookbook curates the food for the evening and shares from her culinary practice and family history--and Andrea-Vicky Amankwaa-Birago leads us through a Resting Meditation. Finally, we will be watching the video work “these practices are done in sharing her stories” by Gladys Kalichini. Music will accompany us throughout the evening--each participant will bring a song. We invite all guests to join us in building a decolonial library--whether you bring a book, a poem, a smell, or an object that holds knowledge is up to you.
The evening will be moderated by Miriam Camara.
»LA PALABRE« is curated by Isabel Raabe and Celina Baljeet Basra.