Between 1904 and 1908, Germany committed genocide against the Herero, Mbanderu and Nama in its colony "South West Africa" (today's Namibia). Over three days of Focus Investigative Arts, we will show individual screenings of the German Colonial Genocide in Namibia series by the research collective Forensic Architecture/Forensis, who have worked with genocide activists from descendant communities to bring together archival photographs and oral testimonies in 3D models of the sites where these atrocities were committed. Their findings are the beginning of a collection of digital evidence that can be used to support claims for land restitution and reparations.

RESTITUTING EVIDENCE: OKAHANDJA & OTJOZONDJUPA (WATERBERG)

Okahandja was the historic capital of Hereroland, a place where the Herero people regularly pay homage to their fallen leaders and heroes and heroines, and the ancestral home of the Maharero clan. Some of the first colonial photographs of what was then known as "South West Africa" were taken here in 1876. Although such archival images are artifacts of a colonial view, FA/Forensis use them to support indigenous land claims, to identify the locations of Ovaherero settlements that once spanned the Omuramba (seasonal riverbed) of the Okahandja River, and to establish a chronology of the German colonization process.

Known today by its colonial name "Waterberg", Otjozondjupa - which means "place of calabashes" in Otjiherero, the language of the Herero people - is the site of a crucial historical turning point. Otjozondjupa, where the uprising of the indigenous population took place, known to the Herero as the "war of anti-colonial resistance", is also the place where the German colonial strategy took a decisive turn towards genocide. Around thirty thousand Ovaherero sought refuge there and joined the existing settlements of the Kambazembi clan under the leadership of Samuel Maharero. German colonial troops formed a bulwark to prevent the Herero from fleeing westwards, forcing them instead into a region known to the colonists as the "waterless" Omaheke Sandveld ("sand field" in Afrikaans).

SWAKOPMUND

Swakopmund is the focus of the latest part of FA/Forensis' investigation into the genocide of the Nama and Ovaherero by the German Reich in what is now Namibia. In collaboration with Ovaherero and Nama activists and traditional leaders, this investigation focuses on the historical significance of the port town.

From 1904 to 1908, Swakopmund was the site of a concentration camp run by the German colonial army. Together with descendants of survivors and activists, FA/Forensis reconstructed the town as it existed during the genocide, uncovering the long-forgotten location of the camp as well as many sites of forced labor throughout the town structure. Together with forensic archaeologists, they investigated the unmarked graves of the camp's victims on the outskirts of the city and uncovered how they were disturbed and destroyed by urban development.

Forensic Architecture(FA) and Forensis use spatial analysis and digital modeling techniques to investigate state and corporate violence, environmental degradation and colonial legacies. In collaboration with the indigenous Ovaherero and Nama groups, the two agencies have conducted a multi-year investigation into the genocide perpetrated by German colonial forces in Namibia in the early years of the 20th century. Their ongoing research, which links this violent history to current cases of state violence in Germany and Palestine, will be presented in a series of films, an installation and a panel discussion.