Ulf Vierke

Magnus Echtler

Afeosemime Unuose Adogame

In a world supposedly characterized by the production of new differences and cultural permutations resulting from the twin processes of globalization and cultural syncretisation, hardly anything has remained as obscure and theoretically under-theorized as the very notion of the "new" itself. An inherent relativity often accompanies any contemplation of what is new or old, as well as the question at which point the old turns into the new. Syncretism as both process and description hinges largely on the assumption and premise that what is observed has appropriately or inappropriately mixed categories - culture, religion, language - that are intrinsically alien to each other. Such a syncretic constellation is bound to result in something that may be considered new. Any definition of "syncretism", the syncretisation process and the appropriation of the notion "new" as useful heuristic tools must indeed be located within specific local contexts, as such terms are unlikely to serve as adequate descriptions of homogenous sets of phenomena. Syncretism as a process is intertwined with processes of contextualization. Against this backdrop, this book seeks to unravel and demystify the ideology of the new on the basis of concrete case studies from various regions across Africa and beyond.

Critical Perspectives on Cultural Syncretization in Africa and Beyond

Unpacking the New

Sarah Böllinger

Carsten Mildner

DiversityGains – Vielfalt gewinnt – an Sichtbarkeit, Akzeptanz und Gestaltungskraft, aber auch an Widerspruch und Komplexität. Die Autorinnen diskutieren Erfahrungen und Analysen, Praktiken und Politiken aus europäischen und afrikanischen Gesellschaften in Essays, Aufsätzen und einem Gedicht. Die Themen reichen von sozialer Ausdifferenzierung der kenianischen Mittelschicht über inklusive Kunst und Kulturvermittlung zu Politik und Erfahrungen von Behinderung, Geschlecht, Hautfarbe und Sexualität sowie intersektionale Erfahrungen. Alle befassen sich damit, wie wir gesellschaftlicher Komplexität begegnen und wie DiversityGains für alle ein Gewinn werden können. Die Autor*innen und Herausgeber*innen sind Ethnolog*innen und Kunst- und Literaturwissenschaftler*innen, Lehrer*innen und Soziolog*innen, Journalist*innen und Aktivist*innen aus Europa, Afrika und den USA. Mit Beiträgen von Sarah Böllinger, Katharina Fink, Ann Fox, Thomas Hughes, Ras-I Mackinzeph; Carsten Mildner, Kevin Mwachiro, Dieter Neubert, Emmanuel Sackey, Florian Stoll, Ulf Vierke, Monika Windisch

Stepping Stones and Pitfalls

Diversity Gains

Nadine Siegert

Ute Fendler

Katharina Fink

From the visual politics of the FRELIMO-liberation script in Mozambique via the brooms and spoons of Le Balai Citoyen in Burkina Faso, to the updating of images from past revolutions on Twitter and Facebook, often in the diaspora – images play a key role in the envisioning of futures and social utopia. And more than that: Revolutions, understood as moments of radical social and cultural change, are driven by images, as empirical investigations on- and offline show. But what actually constitutes the 'seismographic power' of images, and the sustainability of icons from past ruptures in terms of radicalism, such as the portraits of Burkina Faso's and Mozambiques first presidents' Thomas Sankara and Samora Machel? What possibilities do images offer – and what is cut and edited in the process of creating a 'new' image? How do the visual tactics of analogue and digital protesters alike constitute, alter and create visual and multi-media archives? This book brings together a wide range of papers by international researchers and artists focusing on the relationship of images and revolution mostly in the African context. Images in various artistic media such as photography, art in public space, performance, fashion are discussed, but also the relation of visual culture and politics in Mozambique, Angola and Burkina Faso among others. With contributions from: Stefanie Alisch, Petrus Amuthenu, Ana Balona de Oliveira, Ute Fendler, Katharina Fink, Raí Gandra, Goldendean, Jelsen Lee Innocent, Onejoon Che, Luís Carlos Patraquim, Marco Russo, Nadine Siegert, Serubiri Moses, Johan Thom, Drew Thompson, Fabio Vanin, Ulf Vierke

Iconographies of Radical Change

Revolution 3.0

Claudia Liebelt

Recent decades have seen the rise of a global beauty boom, with profound effects on perceptions of bodies worldwide. Against this background, Beauty and the Norm assembles ethnographic and conceptual approaches from a variety of disciplines and across the globe to debate standardization in bodily appearance. Its contributions range from empirical research to exploratory conversations between scholars and personal reflections. Bridging hitherto separate debates in critical beauty studies, cultural anthropology, sociology, the history of science, disability studies, gender studies, and critical race studies, this volume reflects upon the gendered, classed, and racialized body, normative regimes of representation, and the global beauty economy.

Debating Standardization in Bodily Appearance

Beauty and the Norm

Fabian Lehmann

"In the oeuvre of filmmaker, theatre director and action artist Christoph Schlingensief (1960-2010) two topics are particularly important: the myth of Richard Wagner and the image of Africa.Schlingensief not only address both topics in parallel, however, he confronted them in unknown ways. He arranged a Wagner Rallye (1999) through the deserts of Namibia, exposed the African in Wagner's opera Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival (2005-2009).Towards the end of his life, he started to realize his vision of the African Opera Village (ongoing). By now fleeing the Wagner cult in Germany, he aimed at an institutionally liberated opera in Burkina Faso. But what does it mean to dislocate and negotiate opera within the context of Africa?This publication comprises essays, artistic contributions and interviews with contemporaries that approach Schlingensief's work from different disciplinary perspectives, allowing us to see behind his projects and ideas and provide artistic responses. The triangle Schlingensief - Wagner - Africa is thus activated in different constellations and offers fresh insights into the oeuvre of the contemporary German artist."

Christoph Schlingensief's Crossing of Wagner and Africa

Christoph Schlingensief: Art of Wagnis

Ulf Vierke

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