Was sind deine Wurzeln? Kuratorische Einblicke in den Treffpunkt der GCA in der Station "Beziehungsweise Familie"

In the organizer's words:

What rituals are there around kinship? Can cultural belongings be part of a family? How does community work for nomadic people - and how are codes, patterns and myths passed on within families? These questions are at the heart of the exhibition meeting point "What are your roots?" in the exhibition Beziehungsweise Familie, on which a group of nine people worked and which makes different perspectives on family visible. It was curated by the Preparatory Group of the Global Cultural Assembly (GCA), which has been working continuously since 2022 to create spaces for partners to organize themselves together with us and make diverse voices audible in the Humboldt Forum.

In the curator talk by Feride Funda Gökçimen-Gençaslan, you will gain an insight into the exhibition meeting point and the working methods of the Global Cultural Assembly.

Curators of the meeting point and guides

Feride Funda Gökçimen-Gençaslan

Feride Funda Gökçimen-Gençaslan studied German language and literature, linguistics and art history at the Free University of Berlin and teaches literature and German as a foreign language in Zurich. She is the chairperson and spokesperson of the Sufi Center Rabbaniyya, European Center for Sufism and Interreligious Encounter based in Eigeltingen. She has been in training with the Naqshbandiyya Aliyyah Order (Istanbul-Turkey, Northern Cyprus) since 1995 and, as a representative of the Order, gives lectures and leads events and workshops on topics such as Islam, peace work, climate awareness, sustainability and the prevention of violence and extremism. As an active member of various international and interfaith organizations, she is involved in projects throughout Germany aimed at intercultural understanding and raising awareness of (inter)religious issues. Since 2019, she has been curating an exhibition on the Naqshbandiyya order for the Ethnological Museum at the Humboldt Forum Berlin and has been leading the monthly lecture series "The Treasure of Love - Mystical Dimensions at the Humboldt Forum" since February 2023. She is also chair of the preparatory group for the Global Cultural Assembly, which has been in the process of being founded since 2022.

Other curators of the meeting point

Fabiano Kueva

Fabiano Kueva, born 1972 in Quito. Member of the collectives Películas La Divina (1992-1997), Centro Experimental Oído Salvaje (1996-2016), Laboratorio Solanda (since 2016) and Global Community Assembly (since 2023). His projects move between museums, public spaces and community contexts, as well as via radio, satellite and web broadcasts. Numerous albums, books and articles have been published.

He has participated in and co-initiated academic events and international exhibitions in America and Europe. His awards include the Radio Play Prize of the 3rd Latin American Radio Biennial (Mexico, 2000), the Paris Prize of the 9th International Biennial of Cuenca (Ecuador, 2007), the Premio Nuevo Mariano Aguilera (Ecuador, 2015), the Prize for Best International Feature Film at the Chiloé International Film Festival (Chile, 2021) and the Acquisition Prize of the 15th International Biennial of Cuenca (Ecuador, 2021).

Participation in the 10th Havana Biennial (Cuba, 2009), the 2nd Montevideo Biennial (Uruguay, 2014) and the 56th Venice Biennial (Italy, 2015), among others. Artist-in-residence at institutions such as Apexart (New York), Villa Waldberta (Munich), Lugar a Dudas (Cali) and OBORO (Montréal). He received a grant from the Prince Claus Fund (2010) and an Artist Research Fellowship from the Cisneros Institute - MoMA (2024). He lives and works in Ecuador.

Achiles Bufure

Achiles Bufure is Director of the National Museum and House of Culture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Together with other curators and researchers, he curated the exhibition "History(s) of Tanzania" at the Humboldt Forum.

Laibor Kalanga Moko

Laibor Kalanga Moko is an anthropologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Hamburg. He was born and raised in Oltukai, a Maasai pastoralist village in northern Tanzania.

His research focuses on the decolonization of museums, provenance research, the restitution of cultural goods and the repatriation of human remains. In his work, he cooperates with various communities in Tanzania, including his own, the Maasai, as well as with the Meru, Chagga, Hehe and Ngoni.

Augustine Moukodi

Augustine Moukodi is a Cameroonian writer, producer and independent researcher in the field of colonial and post-colonial history. After studying management and administration, Augustine Moukodi entered the world of audiovisual production to address sensitive social issues and advance her research. She is president of the production companies Zili Jungle Studios and Racines Mboa, where she has been producing and directing historical and cultural film projects since 2012.

Her career also includes the production of the children's television series "Game Over Show", which aired in the Central African sub-region from 2012 to 2014. In 2016, her joint research on the German-Cameroonian treaty led to the production of the Cameroonian historical TV series "Our Wishes", directed by Jean Pierre Bekolo. In 2017, she exhibited this series at the Leopold Museum as part of the Vienna International Festival.

Deepak Tolange

Deepak Tolange is a filmmaker, photographer and researcher from Nepal who is interested in innovation, history, culture, environment and social justice.

Deepak Tolange completed his Masters in Visual and Media Anthropology in Berlin with a DAAD Masters Scholarship (2014-2016). After graduating, Deepak worked for two years as a freelance filmmaker and photographer in Germany and Tanzania. Since 2018, he has been a guest lecturer at Kathmandu University, where he teaches photojournalism and film production. His paintings, photographs and documentary films Shelter (2013) and Dust (2016) have won several awards.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a visual artist, writer and speaker. His work has been exhibited worldwide in public spaces, museums, galleries and private collections. Institutional collections in which his work is represented include the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Humboldt Forum.

Yahgulanaas has a long history of environmental activism and political involvement. For many years he was the elected Chief Councillor of the Old Massett Village Council and a member of the Council of the Haida Nation.

Diana Guzmán (Mirigõ) and Orlando Villegas (Majã Piria)

Diana Guzmán (Mirigõ) and Orlando Villegas (Majã Piria) live in Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia, and work at the Escuela Normal Superior Indígena Maria Reina. As teachers of Spanish and indigenous languages (Diana) and sport/leisure education (Orlando), they are strongly committed to the implementation of indigenous education, and Diana also runs a small community museum at the school with its own collection. Both are committed to preserving and promoting indigenous languages and culture in their traditional territory and have been in contact with the Ethnological Museum Berlin since 2014. As part of a long-term cooperation project, several collection visits and workshops have since taken place in Berlin, Mitú and Macucu, Orlando's community of origin.

- Price: free of charge

- Meeting point: In front of the entrance to the special exhibition areas, ground floor

- Language: German

- belongs to: Destiny or choice?