Christian Nyampeta: A Flower Garden of All Kinds of Loveliness Without Sorrow

A Flower Garden of All Kinds of Loveliness Without Sorrow is the artist Christian Nyampeta’s first solo exhibition in Germany.

The title is borrowed from Een bloemhof van allerley lie ijkheyd sonder verdriet (1668), one of the first Dutch dictionaries by Adriaan Koerbagh, a Dutch philosopher and critic. Despite its own contradictions, Koerbagh’s publication attempted to demystify the language of the Church and the State, and to intervene against the cultural injustice resulting from the distortion of religious and clerical meanings.

Drawing from the story surrounding Koerbagh and his practice influenced by a Radical Enlightment, Nyampeta’s A Flower Garden at the GfZK deals with the representational mechanisms of language and narrations, processes of translation, as well as cultural acts of violence.

The project consists of three components: an exhibition that presents a combination of works which narrate histories and fictions from within the former European colonies Congo and Rwanda , a scriptorium in which a Leipzig working group discusses and annotates the English and German translation of writings by the Rwandan philosopher Isaïe Nzeyimana and a public programme.
Sponsored by: Alpha 2000, Europas Zukunft gUG, mondriaan fonds, Förderkreis der GfZK

Visting the Archive for Geography at the Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde in Leipzig.

Registration until 19.06.: dierssen@gfzk.de

Meeting point 
at the GfZK

A public programme invites to excursions and screenings that focus on the colonial legacies of the German Empire in Rwanda and its afterlives in Leipzig.

On the colonial traces in Leipzig, conducted by Leipzig postkolonial (Engagierte Wissenschaft e.V.)

Meeting point at the GfZK

A public programme invites to excursions and screenings that focus on the colonial legacies of the German Empire in Rwanda and its afterlives in Leipzig.

On the colonial traces in Leipzig, conducted by Leipzig postkolonial (Engagierte Wissenschaft e.V.)

Meeting point at the GfZK

A film presentation and talk between Christian Nyampeta und Arlette-Louise Ndakoze

A public programme invites to excursions and screenings that focus on the colonial legacies of the German Empire in Rwanda and its afterlives in Leipzig.

Screenings with films by Christian Nyampeta, Kivu Ruhorahoza, Clémentine Dusabejambo and Amelia Umuhire.

‘A Flower Garden of All Kinds of Happiness Without Sorrow’ by Christian Nyampeta:

The film is a ‘work in progress’. Whenever Nyampeta can expand the question ‘How to live together’, he reflects new perspectives audio-visually.

‘Visual Anthropology and Tourism in the Wake of a Romantic Break-Up’ by Kivu Ruhorahoza:

When his relationship with Jeanne ends, a man leaves New York City and revisits Zanzibar where he used to holiday with his ex. This time though, the man sees Zanzibar for what it truly is, a city besieged by tourists and locals performing authenticity for the tourist’s amused gaze.

‘Behind the Word’ by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo:

A boarding school pupil is bullied by her classmates and a teacher due to her difficulties with the English and French language. Her language barriers are the reason why she cannot articulate her sorrow facing a cold atmosphere at school. Everything changes when the art teacher finally sees her ability for drawing.

‘Mugabo’ by Amelia Umuhire:

The experimental short film ‚Mugabo‘ (2017) deals with returning to a home and suppressed trauma. It was screened at MOCA Los Angeles, Smithsonian African American Museum, Berlin Biennale 2018, MCA Chicago and at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. It won the price for “Best Experimental Film” at the Blackstar Film Festival in Philadelphia.

Furthermore there will be a talk with Christian Nyampeta and Arlette-Louise Ndakoze.

Arlette-Louise Ndakoze is an independent researcher-journalist primarily researching on sources of wisdom-knowledge, with radio being her medium of passion. For several years, Arlette looks out on artistic and intellectual movements in Rwanda and further African cultures, researching on philosophical disciplines, literature scenes, and what has tied the cultures up to now. As a member of SAVVY Contemporary, Arlette cultivates Telling Trees, an informal storytelling series on sources of knowledge in African cultures, proposing the various communities in Berlin a place of culture building and living.