Karen Taylor [ENG]

What word comes to your mind when you think of the Humboldtforum / Berliner Schloss? Please explain.

Actually, several words come to my mind. Neocolonialism, White ignorance, white arrogance. Why? Because I have the feeling, that the community, that NGOs, but also that state institutions voiced criticism against the Humboldt Forum, that is not heard at all and if it is, it is dismissed as a pure protest movement. Although numerous scientists have profoundly argued why the concept of the Humboldt Forum, such as it is being designed currently and how it is intended to be realized, is not acceptable. Hence, these terms.

Do you think that Germany should pay reparations to the Herero and Nama communities that were affected by and dispossessed during the genocide from 1904-08? Please elaborate.

I think there are two crucial aspects which are important here. One the one hand a serious apology, and on the other hand the reparations that are tied to a serious apology. Because to me, besides the reparations, it is also a question of respect. The Herero and Nama have presented their demands. What is being heard and how? And what is accepted in which way? The federal government has taken up the aspect of apology in the negotiations, in which Mr. Polenz is representing Germany, but directly ruled out reparations as an option. In my opinion this is unacceptable, let alone because the concerned groups have already put forward that claim. What form these reparations should take is another question, that can and should be discussed in a second step. But to exclude it from the start from so-called “open negotiations” is in my opinion wrong.

Do you think that a memorial and information center concerning the topic slavery, colonialism and racism should be built in Berlin? Please elaborate.

Tomorrow in Berlin, tomorrow February 25th, the commemoration march for the victims of colonialism takes place in Berlin. If I ask my friends, my acquaintances, colleagues at work, if they have already heard of the commemoration march, let alone the history of colonialism in Germany, I see many questioning faces, and solely on that ground I believe that it’s important that the cityscape also commemorates enslavement, especially since we have those kinds of indications in other places too. We have the African quarter, we have the M-Street in Mitte [the city center]. It’s not as if it wasn’t a part of the cityscape or the city’s history. I simply wish that the affected parties, the community, the diaspora here in Germany would get the chance to express themselves via a memorial or a commemorative plaque, how they perceive this subject and what still needs to get through to the population.

What’s your take on the many human remains from the Global South that are kept in German museums until today?

That’s a very very difficult matter, which I also dealt with professionally. On the one hand we talk about bones, which are human remains. They aren’t objects, but… well, remains of family members, who (have the right to) claim them back or at least the nations have the right to claim them. When I was preparing for this conversation/interview, I came across strange interviews that objectified the whole topic, which treated the remains as research objects and took the human element from these remains. Consequently, it’s my view that there should be treaties to arrange for the return of or the restitution for theses bones/remains. Initial efforts were already made and I can’t really say where they tripped up. Because the claims are clear and the location of the remains is also clear. Both sides would simply need to get together.

According to you, how important is the equal and conceptional contribution of descendants of colonized people to handle the colonial past (i.e. negotiations regarding reparations, museums, exhibitions, representation in schoolbooks, street renaming etc.)?

That is of particular importance! We do also talk a lot about self-designations, about appropriation and self-empowerment and in these contexts the history… The coverage of history was – maybe this is a bold, but also a short way to say it: the West against the Global South. If we visit ethnological museums, it’s obvious that the West tells about the rest of the world. And this perspective remains Eurocentric insofar as it excludes other perspectives. For an all-encompassing reporting, which would be possible, it is important to include all perspectives. That’s one aspect. Another aspect is that we’re confronted with it over and over again. We’re confronted with labels. Be it the insult “N*” or the insult “M*”. It would be especially important that it is being heard why we do not accept these designations, why they are insulting. And I think the discussions and disputes that are led concerning these terms would be less emotionally-charged if they weren’t merely about political correctness, but if the majority society recognizes why we can’t accept certain terms, why we find certain terms painful. And therefore, it should be a joint process, in which both sides can learn from one another, can get closer, but not in a way in which one side forces something upon the other. But that both sides get together in such processes. For example, school textbooks should not be made exclusively by the community on their own, but they should be the result of a cooperative effort.