Specular Kinshasa. Recent urban transformations in Central Africa

BRAVE NEW WORLDS An Investigation between Congo and China In 2010 the Chinese government founded a development fund for Africa, the total sum of which was more than nearly half again of Germany's entire global development budget. Brave New Worlds probes the migration process of the money, goods and people connected to it. Five artists from Kinshasa and five of their counterparts from Guangzhou visit each other. They are architects, theatre-makers, painters, writers or critics and they are looking for traces of their own culture in the other's country through stories, objects, experiences. The classic western criteria of centre and periphery, of east/west or north/south are nul and void. What chance does this new-orientation of Africa offer? Is the Chinese development help simply old-fashioned colonisation in modern clothes? And how does this affect us Europeans? Following their excursions, the artists meet up in Mülheim and invite us along. They will show their work and a documentary about the journeys, there will be the opportunity to find out more about the topic in one-to-one conversations, lectures and discussions. Will anything remain of the cliches about the red superpower and the poor, black continent? Friday July 9 TESTIMONIES, FACTS & FIGURES On day one, we start with the very beginning. What are the facts and figures on the current love affair between China and Africa, when did it start and how did it come into being? What kind of imagery and information did the fieldtrips provide from a more informal perspective? 14:00-16:00 Screening part 1: Mix of popular news reporting and interviews on China - Africa, from BBC, Chinese and African channels, Al Jazeera, official propaganda, etc. Screening part 2: Adrienne Altenhaus screens a selection of her fieldtrip material and talks about it. 18:00 Nowhere in the world is China’s rapid rise to power more evident than in Africa. From multi-billion dollar investments in oil and minerals to the influx of thousands of merchants, labourers and cheap consumer goods, China’s economic and political reach is redefining Africa’s traditional ties with the international community. This introduction debate investigates the emerging relationship between China and Africa to determine whether this engagement will be that of a development partner, economic competitor or new hegemon. (Text is taken from a book of Chris Alden, London School of Economics) With contributions of 1 Chinese and 1 Congolese artist, writer Lieve Joris and Anna Stahl (University of Brussels) (TBC in next days). Saturday July 10 THE CURRENT STATE OF THINGS On day two, we take a step back into the current state of things “in the field”. What kind of cities are Guangzhou and Kinshasa? How do people live and survive on a daily basis and in what way does the Chinese presence in Africa and vice versa have an effect on that? 14:00-17:00 Cemetary State by Filip De Boeck http://www.filmnatie.eu/CemeteryState.php (76 min) In ‘Cemetery State’, Filip De Boeck invites us on a bewildering tour of the cemetery of Kintambo, one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Over the years, the city has increasingly invaded the cemetery, and shanty towns have sprung up alongside it. One of these is the populated slum area of Camp Luka (also known as ‘the State’). Here, the living and dead live in close proximity. China Blue by Micha Peled http://www.argotpictures.com/ChinaBlue.html (86 min) China Blue takes viewers inside a blue jeans factory in southern China, where teenage workers struggle to survive harsh working conditions. Providing perspectives from both the top and bottom levels of the factory’s hierarchy, the film looks at complex issues of globalization from a human level. 18:00 Taking the leap back to China-Africa, we elaborate on survival and integration strategies of the Chinese and Congolese in Kinshasa and Guangzhou respectively, and discuss how the local communities respond. What are the personal stories behind the highly mediatized discourse on China and Africa? Lecture by Jiang Jun Lecture by Georg Dobler Georg Dobler is Lecturer in social anthropogy at Basel University and previously worked at Bayreuth University. He has worked on the reception of Chinese businesses in Namibia. Sunday July 11 BRAVE NEW FUTURE On the last day, we wonder out loud what the future of Kinshasa and Guangzhou might look like, and if they in any way connected. Can it be that the future of Kinshasa can somehow be found in the suburb of Guangzhou? 14:00 Auction of Chen Shuyu’s photographs and screenings on Congolese versus Chinese real estate development 18:00 Drawing upon the book “For the city yet to come” by Abdou Maliq Simone we set up a dialogue between anthropologist Filip De Boeck working on the African metropolis, and Liu Heng, architect from NODE office, who was closely involved in the construction of the Nansha city in the suburb of Guangzhou, a city completely constructed but still empty: ‘The city already there”. After a 30-45 minute keynote presentation by both, Jiang Jun moderates the dialogue between them and the audience. Filip de Boeck is Professor of Anthropology (Institute for Anthropology in Africa) at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Liu Heng received her BArch from the Huazhong University of Science & Technology, China, and an MArch from UC Berkeley. She received a Doctor of Design at Harvard Graduate School of Design, and her research focuses on contemporary urbanism in the Pearl River Delta, and the specific impact of urbanisation on design and practice in the Pearl River Delta today. She established her practice NODE (Nansha Original Design) in 2004, and is also chief architectural consultant for the Fok Ying Tung Foundation for the Nansha City development. 20:00 Closing remarks and drinkspaper presentation followed by a dialogue between anthropologist Filip De Boeck working on the African metropolis, and Liu Heng, architect from NODE office, who was closely involved in the construction of the Nansha city in the suburb of Guangzhou, a city completely constructed but still emptystatus: publishe