It is with great joy that we, the Department of Art History as Cultural History (KuK) of Prof Dr Bénédicte Savoy at Technische Universität Berlin, announce the coming session of the Kuk-Tuesdays: Dislocation.

"Dislocation & Continuities"
14/11/2023
18:30 - 22:00
Institute of Art Studies and Historical Urban Studies (TU Berlin)

In 1900, the German imperial army joined the war against the anti-colonial, anti-foreign and anti-christian uprising of the 義和拳 Yìhéquán (the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists) in Northern China. Chinese objects were looted as spoils of war and entered the German art market, as well as German museums. Already the destruction of the imperial palace Yuanming Yuan in Beijing during the Second Opium War in 1860 by British and French troops resulted in an influx of Chinese objects to the European art market that significantly shaped the perception of Chinese art in Europe. This roundtable discussion investigates the relationship between violence, plunder and art with a focus on the history of Western, or more specifically German, imperialism and colonialism in China. It focuses on the continuities of German imperialism in China, and the legacies of the war against the Yìhéquán in museums in German-speaking countries. As an imperial metropole, traces of German colonialism in China are still visible in Berlin, from museum collections to street names. How to critically engage with these colonial histories and continuities? Which roles do art, music and museums play in these processes?

With:
Dr Yu Filipiak
Researcher, Ethnographic Museum, Zurich University, Switzerland

Hang Su & Silvan Hagenbrock
LÍNG SĀN LÍNG 〇三〇, Berlin

The evening will be moderated by Dr Christine Howald, Deputy Director of the Central Archives & Provenance researcher of the Asian Collections, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

The series of events KuK-Tuesdays: Dislocation, curated by Dieu Ly Hoang and Freya Schwachenwald is a continuation of the KuK Tuesdays: Dislocation - Season 1 and 2 curated by Fogha Mc and Jeanne-Ange Wagne in 2022/2023. It aims to provide a space for exchange between the research at our institute, perspectives from different fields of practice, as well as artistic and activist positions.

The upcoming KuK-Tuesdays are:

14-11-2023: "Dislocation & Continuities"
19-12-2023: "Indomania"
16-01-2023: "Object Lives"
13-02-2024: "Remembrance"
12-03-2024: "Unlearning"

The events are free of charge and the conversation will be held in English.