12th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art

For more than 500 years countries in the Global South were not free.
The countries were not allowed to make their own political decisions.

The Global South is a group of countries.

We used to call these countries

·      developing countries or

·      emerging countries.

These countries were often at a great disadvantage.

Some of them still are.

European countries divided up many countries into colonies.

For example:

·      The African countries

·      Many countries in Asia

·      Many countries in South America

Colonies are countries taken over by other countries.

The European countries took control of the colonies.

They also decided:
Everything in these colonies belonged to them.
Even the natural resources.
For example: sugar, oil, rubber and wood.

This is called exploitation.

This exploitation is called colonialism.
These years of exploitation are called the colonial years.

The countries in the Global South make their own political decisions now.

But the colonial years changed these countries in many ways.

You can still feel this today

in all areas of life:

·      in how people think and

·      in how people act.

Not just in the Global South.

But also in Europe.

During the colonial years

many people suffered from violence.

Today there are still many forms of

·      violence

·      dictatorship and

·      exploitation.

We want to break away from this.

We need to know and understand more.
Then we can change how we think and how we act.

We can recognize old prejudices.
We can treat one another better.

People have wanted this change for many years.

This change is called decolonization.

This means we want to be

·      free from colonial thinking.

·      free from prejudice.

Kader Attia is dedicated to making this change.
He is an artist, thinker and activist.
An activist believes strongly in change.

He works to make change happen.

He talks to other people.

And tells them about his plans.

Kader Attia looks back on many years of decolonization.
He asks many questions:

How can we repair the damage?

The damage done in the colonial years.

The damage to people.

And the damage to society.

The society in a country.

And society in the world.

How can we share our knowledge?

To reduce prejudice.

And to change how people think.

How does culture affect this change?

Kader Attia is in charge of the 12th Berlin Biennale.
He is the curator.

His program for the 12th Berlin Biennale asks many questions.

Questions about the colonial years and decolonization.

We are all looking for new answers.
Answers to the question:
What can we do better?

The main idea of the 12th Berlin Biennale is:

Repairing the damage done in the colonial years.
Art can also repair this damage.
But art is also affected by colonialism.

European countries stole works of art and art treasures from the Global South.

They showed these works of art in their museums.

Some museums still show these works of art today.

How can we repair this?
How can we have art without colonialism?

How can feminist groups from other countries help?

Is there a connection between colonialism and the climate crisis?

How can we protect the earth?
Can age-old knowledge help us to do this?

The 12th Berlin Biennale takes place from

11th June to 18th September 2022.

It is made up of many exhibitions.

The exhibitions and events take place in different areas in Berlin.

During the 12th Berlin Biennale

artists, scientists and activists want to

·      talk to each other.

·      discuss their opinions.

·      learn new things.

They want to think about the world.
And point out the differences and problems.

They want to show:

How we can think and speak differently

·      about history.

·      about the colonial years.

How we can work together to change the future.