Affect and Colonialism Web lab

The Web Lab is a digital platform that gathers contributions in various formats: podcasts, digital exhibitions, and, with a particular focus, video works. These contributions range from analytical explorations to artistic interventions and offer perspectives on colonial legacies, decolonial practices, and possible futures. The project aims to foster exchange between the Global North and the Global South, to connect academic and non-academic forms of knowledge more closely, and to experiment with new, more accessible ways of sharing knowledge. 

Four researchers from the Collaborative Research Center Affective Societies at Freie Universität Berlin founded the Web Lab, and it continues to be based there. In 2021, the project received a prestigious award from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). 

Much of the Web Lab’s work takes place online. All the more valuable, then, are the occasions to come together in a shared physical space. This event at the Spore Initiative offers such an opportunity: as an open gathering, an introduction to the project, and an invitation to exchange and engage in conversation. 

At the center of the evening is a screening of selected video works, each offering a distinct perspective on the affective afterlives of colonial relations: 

• Camila Flores-Fernández: Ghost in the Park 

An ethnofiction documentary exploring the stories that surround Berlin’s Görlitzer Park. From the perspective of a ghost searching for a new place of belonging, the film brings into view a community whose experiences and affects unfold in the context of drug use, care practices, and urban life. 

• Marina Guzzo: Letters to the landscape (ruined alphabet) 

A poetic video work interweaving body and landscape, past and future, theory and artistic practice. In the form of a “ruined alphabet,” it develops fragmentary correspondences moving between different conceptual figures, aesthetic forms, and ecological relations. 

• Laibor Kalongo / Jonas Bens / arjunraj: (tba) 

A third contribution is currently in development and will engage with the collection of the Humboldt Forum as well as ongoing debates on restitution and colonial provenance. 

Following the screenings, there will be time for a shared conversation with the participating artists and contributors. The event is conceived as an open format, offering an opportunity to gain insights, ask questions, and engage in dialogue.