After six months of photographing, writing, researching and collaborating, "Tracing Presence(s)...of Place, Body, Time" will be on display at the Schloss Charlottenburg Berlin under the exhibition, "Prussian Palaces. Colonial Histories" from 4th July to 31st October 2023.
"The artist Emeka Okereke accompanied the restoration of statues that once stood at the entrance of the Ordenspalais (present-day Wilhemplatz) sometime in the 19th century. These statues are archetypal relics of Germany's colonial past. Over the years, they have changed hands as much as locations. Only recently were they discovered, assaulted, damaged, and discarded at a depot, with no record of how this came to be. The mysteriously missing episode in the genealogy of the statues has opened up a space for questions, reflections, and re-imagination of history, which this photographic performative intervention explores."
The work is an audiovisual projection of photographs interspaced with texts. The accompanying sound is contributed by the Berlin-based sound designer David Esser.
In the film below, Emeka Okereke gives a glimpse of the conceptual premise of the project as well as the process of its making.
Conceptualization: Emeka Okereke
Research & Production: Atelier E.K Okereke
Translation: Franziska Lentes
Sound: David Felix Esser
Film: Baz Productions
Commisioned by Stiftung Prussische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg (SPSG).
