African migration - many people first think of refugee boats trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean. However, an international exhibition project at the university is raising awareness of the fact that migration in Africa mainly takes place within or between the regions there.
"Kabbo ka Muwala - Contemporary Artistic Perspectives on Migration and Mobility in Eastern and Southern Africa" is the name of the project in co-operation with the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, the Makerere Art Gallery (Uganda) and the Städtische Galerie Bremen, which the German Federal Cultural Foundation is supporting with around 120,000 euros. The exhibition, which was initiated and coordinated by researchers from the Oldenburg Centre for Interdisciplinary Women's and Gender Studies and the EMMIR (European Master in Migration and Intercultural Relations) master's programme, will now be shown in Bremen - after Zimbabwe and Uganda - from 24 September to 11 December.
The title "Kabbo ka Muwala" is taken from the Ugandan main language Luganda and can be translated as "Basket of the Girl". The term refers to the tradition of the bride transporting her trousseau in a basket and also using it when she visits or returns to her family of origin. In a metaphorical sense, the basket refers to expectations and hopes, material success, but also to the disappointments and failures associated with migration processes.
The artists address the topic in photographic works, videos, sculptures, installations and performances. "With their works, they differentiate a discussion that is characterised to a large extent by clichés, abbreviated assumptions and often shrill tones in the social reality of the Federal Republic of Germany," says Rose Pfister, Director of the Städtische Galerie Bremen.
