Crafting A Life

Join us for a series of four participatory art workshops that invite you to engage, reflect, and create together. Inspired by the life of Theodor Wonja Michael (1925–2019)—a key figure in Afro-German history—this project weaves storytelling and textile art into a shared, collective experience.

Born during the Weimar Republic to a Cameroonian father and an East Prussian mother, Michael’s life journey spanned some of the most violent and oppressive periods in German history. From being forced to perform in so-called “human zoos” and appearing in Nazi propaganda films, to becoming a powerful voice after World War II as a journalist and author advocating for Black people in Germany—his story is one of resilience, resistance, and transformation. His autobiography,*Deutsch Sein und Schwarz Sein*(2015), remains a vital testimony and is part of our Library for Black Ecologies.

This project aligns with the Global Heritage Lab’s annual theme,“Ecologies of Memory and Practice.”Together, we will explore how individual lives are shaped by—and in turn shape—the social, political, and economic environments around them.

Through collective creation and storytelling, we invite you to
engage with Afro-German history in an embodied, creative way,
reflect on the interconnected “social ecologies” that shape lives, and contribute to a shared artistic process of remembrance and imagination.

The four workshops follow the seasons of life: Spring (Childhood), Summer (Coming of Age), Autumn (Adulthood), and Winter (Legacies) of Theodor Wonja Michael.

 

Dates:

• June 21, 2026, 3:00–5:00 p.m.
• July 12, 2026, 3:00–5:00 p.m.
• September 13, 2026, 3:00–5:00 p.m.
• October 25, 2026, 3:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Venue: Global Heritage Lab, P26, 1st Floor, Poststraße 26, 53111 Bonn

All workshop materials are provided. You are warmly invited to bring your own textiles—such as old clothes—to contribute to the collective artwork.

Admission fee for P26: €4.50 / €2.50 (reduced)

Open to everyone, but registration is required—please sign up one week before each event atghlguide@uni-bonn.de.