Idea, concept, and artistic direction: Sally Below, Moritz Henning, Christian Hiller, and Eduard Kögel
2021
Contested Modernities
Contested Modernities brings current positions on postcolonial Southeast Asian architecture into an international dialogue, connecting contemporary international research on architectural modernism with critical discourses on postcolonialism and the urban challenges of the future. Contributors from Jakarta, Phnom Peh, Singapore, and Yangon, together with the Berlin curatorial team and further international contributors, will present a multifaceted programme providing new insights into the history, meaning and future of modernity at the intersection of globalisation and local specificities.
Contested Modernities will start in April 2021, when an issue of the German architectural magazine ARCH+ on Southeast Asian Modernism, co-edited by the artistic directors of Contested Modernities, will be published.
From 16 April 2021, a discourse series with online events will convene key players from Southeast Asia and Berlin, as well as international experts – from the fields of architecture, art, science, and administration – to jointly reflect on common topics and possible courses of action. Lectures, presentations, and discussions will examine four themes from a variety of perspectives.
In autumn 2021, an exhibition at the former Haus der Statistik (House of Statistics) in Berlin will present contributions from Jakarta, Phnom Penh, Singapore and Yangon that critically examine narratives of postcolonial modernism and approaches to its built heritage at the intersections of architectural, artistic and scientific work, as well as (East and West) German influences and cultural transfers to the region.
Contested Modernities is funded by the German Capital Cultural Fund (HKF) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community and supported by stadtkultur international ev and others.