With the project Gbegbetopia – Reimagining Knowledge Sharing, art&dialogue e.V. is initiating a diverse series of interconnected events in collaboration with our partner organizations Union des Cultes Traditionnels du Togo (UCTT) and l’Africaine d’Architecture as well as our network of artists and scholars. A series of events with various participatory formats is planned, which will take place at the end of April/May 2024 in the Berlin spaces of Vierte Welt, Archive Books at Savvy Contemporary and art&dialogue e.V. The project sees itself as a dynamic platform for new formats of knowledge exchange, for ceremonies, performances, video screenings and discussions that explore how to think differently beyond colonial ideas of knowledge/knowledge exchange. This collective engagement of participants from different regions and socio-political contexts is based on the clear aim of challenging Eurocentric epistemologies.
We focus on three dispositives of contemporary creative practice: interaction, education and performativity. We see all three dispositifs in relation to negotiation, dialog, reflection and protection in the mediation between local, traditional knowledge and the challenge of the Western concept of knowledge.
In the course of the project, transcripts of the encounters and discussions, videos, audiovisual and photographic material, drawings as well as a game with digital currency and a decentralized autonomous organization model (DAO) will be created. All of this will be published in a freely accessible and expandable open access format (online and as a printed publication at Archive Books, Berlin) as well as on the UCTT website and the interactive web platform of art&dialogue e.V. The project is funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.
Join us on the evening of July 12 for the presentation and book launch of Gbegbetopia – Maison Gbegbe: An Art-Based Community and Spiritual Center
The evening will include a number of dynamic dialogue formats, ceremonies, performances, video screenings, and a music performance by Elom 20ce.
Publication contributors Nadja Afouatey-Alazard, Messanh Amedegato, Sename Koffi Agbodjinou, Musquiqui Chihying, Rosilla Gousanou, Augusto Gerardi Rousset, Mathilde ter Heijne, Elom 20ce, Gregor Kasper, Kaija Kaitavuori, Adjo Nassougou, Amy Patton, Anani Dodji Sanouvi
About the publication Inspired by Felwine Sarr’s Afrotopia, the publication brings together texts and reflections on Maison Gbegbe, an inter-religious cultural center in Togo focused on exchange, reconciliation, and critical thinking. The publication provides an overview of the creation process and motivations behind Maison Gbegbe.
Collaboratively developed by the Union des Cultes Traditionnels du Togo (UCTT), L’Africaine d'Architecture, and art&dialogue e.V., Maison Gbegbe uses artistic research to address ecological and social crises and to promote alternative knowledge systems beyond Western epistemology.
Anani Dodji Sanouvi will introduce Interdependent Triangular Creative Practice & Scene over 2 days in the context of an artist talk and bodywork workshop. The proposal, rooted in both Ewe animist ontology and queer strategies, encourages participants to shift away from logo-centricity and linear thinking, towards a more experience-oriented relationship to the environment that is inspired by ancestral knowledge systems. Sanouvi developed this format as a “community program” for Maison Gbegbe focusing on two main questions: first, how is the political experienced at the level of the senses, and second, how does it relate to de-alphabetization and re-alphabetization, to the “chewing” process of decolonializing choreography and dramaturgy in the expanded field?
Tue. April 23, 2 – 6pm
artist talk and discussion with Anani Sanouvi, all are welcome.
Wed. April 24, 11 – 6pm
Sanouvi leads a more intimate group up to 20 participants in a GODO FE (a place to meet) bodywork workshop.
Location: University of the Arts Berlin, Klasse ter Heijne, Salzufer 14 – 15, 10587 Berlin OG (3d floor), Aufgang (entrance) “Active Sports”
[1] Chewing refers to the process of “breaking down” a homogenous set of ideas before spitting it out or “funneling” it into different outcomes.
Here we talk about the tradition is a two-day workshop led by Messanh Hounougbo Bahounsou Amedegnato, a custodian of traditional knowledge from Togo who currently lives partly in Germany. The workshop explores the cosmology of the Ewe and offers insights into traditional divination methods, including various oracle tools and practices. A limited group of max. 20 participants will gain a deeper understanding of the healing properties of herbs in Ewe culture, including their importance and role in various cleansing rituals.
Prior registration for the workshop is a prerequisite for participation.
Please note that the 2nd workshop day can only be booked in conjunction with the 1st day.
Sa. 27.04.24 | 14:00 – 16:30 / 17:30 – 20:00 Uhr
So. 28.04.24 | 14:00 – 16:30 / 17:30 – 20:00 Uhr
REGISTRATION: karten@viertewelt.de
The aim of the project Gbegbetopia - Reimagining Knowledge Sharing is to encourage reflection on the nature of knowledge and its dissemination. We want to go beyond traditional text-based formats and explore different methods of knowledge transfer and sharing. We want to rethink the concept of the book and understand it as a multi-sensory experience that challenges traditional categorizations and overcomes the limitations of a simple, time-bound, printed paper on the shelf.
"Reimagining Knowledge Sharing" initiates a series of interconnected activities. These include performances, talks, games and knowledge sharing and healing workshops. We intend to explore the possibility that a publication that includes both the process of writing and reading becomes a ritual - a dynamic and participatory process with transformative potential. In this perspective, ritual and writing merge and blur the boundaries between them.