In Bremen’s central station there is a racist mosaic mural that had been donated by Tabak Brinkmann, a local tobacco and cigarette company in the 1950s. For a longer period of time it was covered by (other) commercials. During the restoration of the building it was rediscovered—and also restored. Since 2001 it remains visible and largely unchallenged and imposes itself upon thousands of citizens every day.
For about a year, Aria Farajnezhad has been specifically scrutinizing the politics of over/non/under-representation imbued in public space constructions. He has been co-initiating collective settings in which the racist mosaic mural in Bremen’s central station was put up for new proposals in which one would overwrite and suggest new imagery that shares ecumenical and non-hierarchical views on the notion of humanity.
A Rehearsal To Scuttle A Monument is the next attempt to pick up on this effort: During two workshops that Aria Farajnezhad held in May 2023, the participants engaged collectively in over-writing, -drawing, folding and reshuffling the image of the vessel that features prominently in the mosaic, to intervene into the image and render visible the context that is otherwise erased, and to oppose amnesia and more so the perpetuation of colonial role-allocation (inferior/superior) which has benefitted Bremen through tobacco, cotton, and coffee trade and has left its echoes until very today (> about the project). Afterwards and in collaboration with Eghbal Joudi, Farajnezhad began transferring this initial intervention on paper into ceramics, back to the original material of the mural. A Rehearsal To Scuttle A Monument sets out to take these reconfigured mosaics collectively to central station, engage in conversations about how to counter the monohumanist* view embedded in images found in the public space and enter into an act of juxtaposing them with the mural in the central station.
The workshop at GAK Bremen provides the space, snacks, and recording devices to meet, get to know each other, and march together to the central station while carrying ca. 10 of the ceramic pieces. In groups of two we will critically discuss the phrases written on the ceramics. The participants are asked to record their conversations that will later be made available online (condensed version and only upon their consent) to become part of a gradually shaping oral archive of these conversations.
The workshop is limited to 18 people so we encourage you to share your interest with us by emailing office@gak-bremen.de earlier.
* the term monohumanist was coined by Jamaican writer and philosopher Sylvia Wynter for a eurocentric, Christian and Darwinist conception of “being-human” that forms the basis for white supremacy and legitimizes colonialism
Short CV (biography): Aria Farajnezhad (*1989) is a multidisciplinary artist and organizer with a background in engineering and a long-term engagement with rhythm and playing percussion. He is a sound and image examiner whose work encompasses various mediums, leaning towards speculative forensics. Farajnezhad was a 2023 fellow of WHW Akademija (Zagreb/Croatia), and between 2020-2022 he co-ran the project space Circa106 and co-initiated the platform Future Archives as part of the Zefak collective in 2020. Aria holds a Diploma from the faculty of fine arts at the University of Arts Bremen where he completed the Meisterschüler*innen program in 2022.
Starting and ending point: GAK
Workshop duration: Approx. 3-4 hours
> fully booked, registration for waiting list place via office(at)gak-bremen.de