Germany has long promoted its culture of remembrance, particularly in reference to the atrocities of the Nazi era — but its history with Africa hardly features. Now, activists are looking back at the 1884 Berlin Conference and its aftermath, through a series of events and exhibitions to examine this crucial event.
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00:00Scholars, activists and other professionals, mostly from Africa and the Diaspora, gather
00:06to discuss the past and its impact on the present.
00:11They're brought together by the Berlin-based civil society collective known as DeColoniale,
00:17which works to shine the spotlight on Berlin's colonial history and keep its legacy in focus.
00:25The Berlin Conference of 1884-85 was, even when it happened, very consequential for the
00:33African continent and it continues to be so, simply because the consequences, the repercussions
00:41of it have been ignored broadly in Germany.
00:46You know, number one is obviously the fact of anti-black racism, so colonialism has not
00:53entered the memory culture in Europe or in Germany broadly and that's why we're here.
00:58It is important to have such an event to talk about, you know, the legacies of the Congo
01:03Conference or of the Berlin Conference, to talk about the violences that still go on,
01:09to talk about neo-colonialism and also to inform ourselves and to learn from each other
01:16about where do we see colonialism in issues like trade, in issues like international development
01:27and issues of aid and so on and so forth.
01:32It was right here 140 years ago where the European colonial powers gathered for the
01:37Berlin Africa Conference.
01:40Now the building where they met no longer exists.
01:42It was damaged in World War II and was later demolished.
01:46What does exist though is this plaque which commemorates the event and contains some important
01:52historical information but it's easy to miss as one walks past here and that's somewhat
01:57symbolic of the way in which the Berlin Conference and its lasting legacies are remembered in
02:02this part of the world.
02:07This modest display at the site highlights the African resistance to the European colonial
02:13scramble as well as the ongoing civil society efforts to keep the conversation alive.
02:22It's part of a series of exhibitions arranged with Berlin's Museum Foundation.
02:31At St. Nicholas Church, now a museum, there are two exhibitions on various aspects of
02:37colonialism and its legacy, including who is honoured or ignored in European museums.
02:48Well we really hope that memorization, commemoration of colonial but also anti-colonial history
02:55in Europe and in Germany which hosted the Berlin Conference was sort of that it moves
03:00more into the mainstream, into the centre of society and becomes sort of like normal
03:05part of memory culture that gets acknowledged and that ultimately finds its way into the
03:10curricula.
03:12That hasn't gone very far yet so we hope that in a way also to accept that this happened
03:19here and not to be in denial because broader society is but broader society is also in
03:24denial on the consequences of colonialism.
03:28The 2024 Berlin Africa Conference concluded with strong demands from the panel of experts
03:34on issues ranging from human rights to trade as a call for European powers to account for
03:41their colonial legacies.