Berlin Global Village (BGV) is explicitly mentioned in two different chapters of the coalition agreement of the future red-green-red state government.
Under „International Affairs“ it says that the funding for Berlin Global Village is to be made permanent. This is an important signal, so that the One World Center can continuously make offers to the city society with a diverse program. And in the chapter „Culture,“ it says: „Berlin will work with the federal government and civil society to critically reappraise the colonial past through a central memorial site as well as decentralized projects such as the „decolonial memorial sign“ at the Global Village.“
With the memorial sign, BGV wants to set decolonial impulses for remembrance culture with the inclusion of migrant-diasporic perspectives. The decolonial memorial sign will be a work of art (a sculpture, an installation, or similar) that will permanently address the issue of the impact of colonialism on North-South relations from a decolonial perspective in the public space in front of the Global Village. It will be announced in an international two-stage art competition. This has not been done before, which means that artists from formerly colonized countries can also participate.
We are sure that the memorial sign will make an important contribution to decolonial remembrance – and provide many impulses for rethinking. The project will be accompanied by an extensive educational program. We are pleased that after the federal funding, the funding from the state of Berlin for the decolonial memorial sign has now also been made available and that we will probably be able to start the project in the middle of next year!
