Games with Frontiers
A two-day symposium organised by the artist Philip Kojo Metz
in English
On 29 and 30 October, diverse perspectives surrounding Philip Kojo Metz’s project, The Mimicry Games, will be offered and its broader themes addressed by an interdisciplinary series of presenters including Ann Schomburg, Stefanie Sylla, Ismal Duá, Monika Kalinauskaitė, Sascha Boldt and Zeina Idris.
Taking football as the medium – within the context of the UEFA European Championship – The Mimicry Games approaches the history of European colonization of Africa by forming a visual and physical connection between the sport and this history. Shifting the location of the European Cup to its colonial counterpart on the African continent, the project places African football players in competition against each other, while uniformed in the national team jerseys of their former colonizers. As the 2016 European Cup was held in France, The Mimicry Games were carried out in Senegal, a former French colony, and were internationally and intercontinentally broadcasted and discussed in a series of public viewings and studio talks. Through this widely accessible game that establishes connections on an international scale, the work addresses notions of national identity, processes of cultural exchange, mimesis and the remnants of a colonial past.
Contributions on the first day of the symposium will consider the relationships and interactions between the African and European continents. On the second day, the presentations will expand the scope of the topic, examining possible parallels in other cultures and continents.
October 29 - 30, 2016
Decad
Gneisenaustrasse 52
Berlin
Saturday, 29 October
4 - 8 PM
Philip Kojo Metz
Annabelle Schulte
Ismael Duá
Sunday, 30 October
4 – 8 PM
Zeina Idris
Monika Kalinauskaité
Ann Schomburg und Sascha Bolt
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| photo p.Maibach |