Here, we present various formats that not only provide significant impulses and strengthen the dialogue on antisemitism but also demonstrate how creative, interactive and scientific approaches can foster a deeper understanding of the complex societal challenges associated with addressing antisemitism, while supporting long-term prevention efforts.

The Institute for New Social Sculpture, in cooperation with the Berlin University of the Arts and the Jewish Student Union of Germany, is founding the Jewish Art School Berlin (JKB). This institution offers Jewish and antisemitism-critical students and young adults an innovative platform for artistic development and critical engagement.

The JKB is led by internationally renowned artists such as Victoria Hanna, David Adika, and Yehudit Sasportas. Through masterclasses and workshops spanning various disciplines—from performing to visual arts—Jewish and antisemitism-critical students and young adults will be supported in their artistic growth.

Lecture on January 20, 2025
Postcolonialism Apologetics After October 7: A Critical Analysis (Online Event)

Lecture by Monika Albrecht – Moderated by Ingo Elbe

Postcolonial theories have faced increased criticism since October 7, 2023, as many within the field have failed to unequivocally condemn the murder, rape, and abduction of Israeli citizens by Hamas, PIJ, and parts of the Palestinian civilian population. Instead, there has often been at best a perfunctory acknowledgment of the horrors "on both sides," and more frequently, a sympathetic "contextualization" of the massacre as an act of resistance by oppressed Indigenous people against white colonizers, not to mention outright glee at what seems to be a long-awaited and finally successful "decolonization."

In response to the palpable discomfort in the German feuilleton regarding these theoretical currents, and the growing realization that they pose a fundamental threat not only to Israel but also to other Western states, various apologetic strategies have emerged: 1) There is no such thing as "the" postcolonial theory, thus rendering the critique without an object; 2) a gap exists between highly nuanced postcolonial studies and their activist reduction on Western university campuses; 3) the criticism of postcolonial approaches is merely a right-wing strategy; and 4) one must reassert the original emancipatory, identity-critical impulse of postcolonial theorization, developed around concepts such as "hybridity" and "third space," against the identitarian and Manichaean degradation of "vulgar postcolonialism."

Monika Albrecht's lecture and the discussion with Ingo Elbe will explore and critically assess these apologetic strategies.

Monika Albrecht (apl. Prof. Dr.) is a cultural scientist at the University of Vechta. Her research focuses on comparative postcolonial studies (Western, Soviet, and Ottoman imperialism), memory studies, and the politics of memory.

Dr. Ingo Elbe earned his doctorate in Berlin with a thesis on the reception of Marxism in West Germany. He is a research associate and private lecturer at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Oldenburg. He has published numerous works on Marxist studies, political philosophy, and the topic of anti-Semitism.

Here is the link to join the event

Action Reinhardt - Spaces of the Holocaust at the Memorial and Educational Site House of the Wannsee Conference

In collaboration with the Grodzka Gate – Teatr NN in Lublin, the exhibition"Action Reinhardt – Spaces of the Holocaust" has been developed together with the Memorial and Educational Site House of the Wannsee Conference.

The exhibition illustrates the connection between the central planning of the mass murder of European Jews and its regional implementation in the area around Lublin.

We invite you to the opening of the exhibition on November 14, 2024, at 4 PM at the Rondell in front of the Villa at Wannsee.

What?
Exhibition opening “Action Reinhardt - The Spaces of the Holocaust” in the garden of the House of the Wannsee Conference

Where?
Memorial and Educational Site
House of the Wannsee Conference
Am Großen Wannsee 56-58
14109 Berlin

How?
Free entry, all are welcome.
Please register via email with our colleague Anna Stocker: stocker_ @ghwk.de

This project has been funded by the EVZ Foundation and the Federal Foreign Office.