How do we produce knowledge and how do we convey it? What is a collaborative learning process? And what needs to be unlearned?

These are questions that the current exhibition School of Casablanca at the ifa Gallery Berlin deals with. With the Casablanca Art School, it sheds light on a key moment in Moroccan art history, which, after the country’s independence in the 1960s, questioned the concept of Western modernism, ways of thinking and teaching methods, and instead embraced indigenous cultures. These questions are also important in German educational institutions and learning spaces. Colonial continuities can be found in the context of school in racist representations and discriminatory interactions, but also in that wich is not shown, said and conveyed —Curricula and educational materials have many gaps. This afternoon, we want to take a look at such gaps and work on diversity-sensitive expansion and filling the voids. In doing so, we deal with current artistic positions that actively thwart colonial narratives and create counter-narratives. Contributions from the publication Untie to Tie – Colonial Fragments in the Context of School as well as the current exhibition at the ifa Gallery Berlin offer us vivid starting points for reflecting on our own educational practices and designing some first new ideas and methods.  

With Annika Niemann (art educator, cultural agent, curator of education & outreach) and Aïcha Diallo (interdisciplinary scholar, curator, lecturer). Together with Miriam Shabafrouz, the editors of the trilingual publication Untie to Tie – Colonial Fragments in the Context of School (bpb, 2021) Guest: Karen Michelsen Castañón (artist, filmmaker and art educator)

from 15:00 – 18:00 Uhr

Please register via ifa-galerie-berlin@ifa.de

© Victoria Tomaschko