COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITION
Somewhere Inbetween:
A trans-academic exhibition addressing border regime struggles and alternative placemaking in urban spaces
Somewhere Inbetween adopted a collaborative and trans-academic approach, bringing together civil society, architects, artists, social scientists and students to explore contmporary urban migration and alternative placemaking in Europe and South America. It also reflects on experimental ethnography through artistic and social practices. Somewhere Inbetween was held between October 24th-30th 2024 in Lichthof Ost in the main building of Humboldt University, Mitte- BerlinThe exhibition featured archives from the Dzjangal (France), Tiburtina (Italy) and Los Arenales (Chile) communities, recognizing the communal processes developed in resisting border regimes. Inspired by Édouard Glissant's "archipelago" thinking, the archives are part of a museographic design that explores alternative relations in contemporary migration through seas and oceans, featuring sound installations and an architectural design by TanzaLab that contributes to connect these communities through water narratives.
In addition, the exhibition included video experiments by IfEE students on "Walking Art" as a research method and workshops on Radio Collective Listening, Sonic Consonance & Dissonance, and Critical Walking, facilitated by sound studies scholar Carla J. Maier, artist-researcher Amanda Gutiérrez, and musician Pia Achternkamp. These methods arise from past collaborations with the Dzjangal, Tiburtina, and Los Arenales communities, promoting different ways of sharing narratives and experiences.
The exhibition Somewhere Inbetween stems from the doctoral project of the artist-researcher Melanie Garland at the Institute for European Ethnology (IfEE) at Humboldt University, supervised by Prof. Regina Römhild and Prof. Bonaventure Ndikung, and serves as a method for exploring contemporary migration through multimodal and collaborative ethnography. Rooted in an interest in public and engaged anthropology, Somewhere Inbetween seeked to create a space for collaboration between academia and civil society, transforming the university's exhibition space into an experimental ground for transdisciplinary exchange.
Contributions by Jungala Radio-Dzjangal, Kathy O' Hare & Ciaran Henry, Los Arenales & Elizabeth Andrade, Cristian Ochoa, Tiburtina & Davide Franceschini, IfEE students; Johanna Dick, Lene Kruse, Alex Maurer, Flora Mettal, Paula Mohne, Nora Pomettini, and Piero Trias. Special thanks to Alejandra Atalah, Pablo Hassmann, hn.lyonga, Bastian Manteuffel and Myriam Perrot.
Opening October 24th
The
exhibition and workshops were possible thanks to the great support of Humboldt Universität Refrat, Institute of European Ethnology (IfEE) and Humboldt-Universitäts-Gesellschaft.
We extend our gratitude to great collaborators who have shared this exhibition through their social networks and interviews. Special thanks to SACO Art Biennial Antofagasta, Tsonami Ediciones Valparaiso, Monopol - Art Studios Berlin, Chilean Conexión - a network of Chileans in Berlin, LakBerlin - a platform supporting Latin American artists in Berlin, and many others.
© Pablo Hausmann