This lecture series brings together contributions from representatives of various disciplines to create a dialogue between art, politics, science, and society. We discuss conditions and manifestations of postcoloniality and the calls for decolonization in a world where ‘we’ (the West) still look at the rest of the world as the Other. How plural is this ‘we’ to begin with? What are the given and possible roles of the arts (art, design, film) in the discourse and practices of de- and postcoloniality? With the participation of guest speakers from Switzerland and abroad, we aim at examining the entanglements of Switzerland with European colonialism both in the past and the present, as well as the different challenges they pose for public space, museums, design and artistic practices, for archives, and for universities as frameworks of education and values.
Program
15.10.2025
Switzerland’s Colonial Entanglements
Karl Johannes Rechsteiner (chocolate historian and storyteller, Bern)
Marilyn Umurungi (art and cultural studies researcher, Zurich)
room 745_055
22.10.2025
Re-Imagining Education from a Pluralistic Perspective
Nikita Dhawan (political scientist, Dresden)
Mayar El Bakry (design researcher and educator, Zurich)
Phila Bergmann (Diversity officer DFK, Lucerne)
room 745_055
29.10.2025
Deconstructing Coloniality Through Art
Renzo Martens (artist, Amsterdam and Lusanga)
Siri Peyer (art researcher, Lucerne)
Kino Rex
05.11.2025
Decolonising the Archive
Vendela Grundell Gachoud (visual studies researcher,
Montreux)
Mo Diener (former artistic director, Roma Jam Session
Art Kollektiv, Zurich)
room 745_055
03.12.2025
Toxic Territories, Healing Environments
Catherine Blackburn (artist and jeweller, Thornhill)
Samia Henni (historian and exhibition maker, Montreal)
room 745_055
10.12.2025
Carte Blanche and wrap-up discussion
Theme and guests selected by the students
room 745_055
