CONTACT AND INFORMATION
Felix Sodemann
f.sodemann@iti-germany.de
Milena Gehrt
m.gehrt@iti-germany.de
Panel discussion
16th September 2025, 7 - 9 pm
tak Theater Aufbau Kreuzberg, Berlin & live stream
with: Naima Hassan, Thobile Maphanga, Poutiaire Lionel Somé
moderated by Onike Shorunkeh-Sawyerr
in English
One of the key challenges of the next few years will be to build strong counter-narratives to recent isolationist and nationalist tendencies through arts and culture. In order to lay the groundwork for global voices that engage with new and provocative aesthetic forms rooted in cultural hybridity while addressing the lasting harms of colonial legacies and ongoing mobility injustices, robust cultural networks are essential. These networks empower artists and their collaborations by creating spaces for critical dialogues, for discussions of uncomfortable topics and collaborative advocacy.
What might these networks look like and how can they be (re-)imagined? With a focus on cross-continental collaborations between Africa and Europe, we will explore how the networks of the future can be shaped.
Naima Hassan is a researcher, curator, and archivist based in Berlin. Her practice foregrounds alternative epistemologies, curatorial and archival ethics, with a focus on the epistemic transformation of postcolonial collections and memory cultures. She currently leads Re:assemblages, jointly developed with Guest Artists Space Foundation and Yinka Shonibare Foundation, as Associate Curator and Archivist. In 2022, she founded SITAAD, a platform dedicated to supporting archival research on Somalia and its diaspora. Hassan also serves on the Steering Board of TheMuseumsLab and is a member of New Currents: Indian Ocean Futures Working Group.
Thobile Maphanga is a South African dance practitioner, writer/scholar, and creative collaborator passionate about her continent and finding more holistic solutions to resolving issues of well-being and full living through the arts. She enjoys working across multiple sectors as she believes solutions can be sourced from varied understandings of the world and how people see and experience it. Her current re-occurring work endeavours are as Project Manager, Assistant Curator and Editorial Steering Committee member for JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, a 27-year-old international contemporary dance festival with an online colloquium. She plays the role of performer, dramaturg and creative collaborator with hannahmadance and the People United based in Germany and Luxembourg. She is co-convener of the African Festivals Network recently re-established in 2024. And currently serving as Co-Facilitator and Mentor for The Festival Academy and joined the production team of the 2025 Culturescapes Sahara Edition.
Poutiaire Lionel Somé is a Cologne-based Burkinabe artist. His creative work, which includes both films and stage productions, focuses on intercultural narratives. His films have received international recognition, including the 2016 Student Academy Award and the 2022 Kurt Hackenberg Prize for Political Theatre.
Onike Shorunkeh-Sawyerr has over ten years of experience in international cooperation, with a particular focus on migration, global justice issues, and post-/decolonial perspectives on Europe–Africa relations. Specifically, her work focuses on the structural conditions of international cooperation and a critical engagement with historical continuities and power dynamics.
The event is part of Shaping Crossroads and Deconfining Arts Culture and Policy in Africa and Europe.
