‘You can’t do decolonization without a cure’
Born in Cameroon in 1977, Bonaventure Soj Bejeng Ndikung has a postdoctoral degree in biophysics, but he never lost sight of his true passion: the arts.
He recently became the director of Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of Cultures of the World), a national exhibition center for multidisciplinary international contemporary art and a forum for social debates.
For Bonaventure Soj Bejeng Ndikung, art is “the highest form of politics” and, at the same time, a “universal language understood by almost everyone”.
Dirke Köpp of DW interviewed the curator when the Haus der Kulturen der Welt reopened on June 2 after being closed for months for maintenance work.
DW: You are the first African to lead the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, a highly renowned cultural institution. Do you think this is still worth mentioning or has Germany overcome the stereotypes that might have prevented such a nomination in the past?
The truth is that I am the only African who runs such an institution in Germany. This means that it is still not completely normal. Things can still be improved. We have to keep working on it and, in a few years, I hope it won’t be a rarity anymore.
Do you think that, as an African, as a Cameroonian, the programming you planned for Haus der Kulturen der Welt is different from what a German director would have planned?
Clear. Because knowledge is embodied.
As a Cameroonian, as someone who grew up in Bamenda, as an African, I carry with me different knowledge, different philosophies, I speak different languages.
I think that the program we are going to propose will be really different.
And above all, it’s not just about me, because I managed to form a team of almost 15 exhibition curators who come from different parts of the world, who will also bring different knowledge. They come from Asia, South America, Africa, the United States and Europe. And that, of course, will influence our program.
You are a specialist in biotechnology by training, but from an early age you began to be interested in art and culture. Did you first avoid becoming an art historian for financial reasons?
I have been interested in art since my childhood. But when I came to Germany, it became clear that I couldn’t study art history – because in my context, in Cameroon, it’s not something that gives work afterwards.
So how did you get into the arts?
In Cameroon, I was very close to the artists. This means that I started my art studies when I was about 17 or 18 years old, when I went to study in Yaoundé. But then, in Berlin, after my studies, we had the opportunity to meet artists and that’s how it started.
My father was an anthropologist, so when I was little there were many books by writers such as Aimé Césaire, Walter Rodney or Jomo Kenyatta, as well as many other publications, and especially the works of Léopold Sédar Senghor. Therefore, I learned postcolonial critical discussion from my childhood.
You are sometimes described as an intransigent militant against colonialism. Does this have to do with the fact that your father was an anthropologist?
I wouldn’t call myself a militant for any cause – because I don’t like the word “militant”. I prefer to see myself as an advocate for the things I consider important in society.
What is your position regarding the return of looted works to Africa?
It is very clear that I would like to see objects that have been taken from Africans, Asians, Native Americans or other parts of the world, returned to their original context. I would love to see a world where people come together with their sacred objects and their history.
what does that mean, exactly?
This means that colonial history really created havoc, all over the world. And these people lost their history. “Restitution” means to return, but it also means to heal what has been destroyed. I think that decolonization cannot be carried out without a cure, without restitution, without reparation and without rehabilitation. That’s why I’m getting involved!
I repeat, I am not a militant. But I’m passionate about it because we have to take our history into our own hands. To move forward in this destabilized world, where there are many imbalances, we have to restore harmony. And my project is a humanistic project to find harmony in the world.
Does the healing process also involve apologies?
Apologies are a starting point, but not the end.
When you apologize, you look at the wounds you’ve inflicted. It is an acknowledgment of what has been done. You can admit you’ve hurt people, acknowledge it, and apologize. But that’s not enough because the injury is still there.
What can we do to heal these wounds?
We need to engage in this healing process, which really means restoring what has been destroyed. And, in fact, restitution – I really want to emphasize this – is not just the return of works, but also the restitution of knowledge and the restitution of human dignity.
One of the greatest evils inflicted in the context of colonization is the dehumanization of human beings. And we have to do rehumanization exercises, to reestablish this humanity that we destroyed.
How can we restore this dignity in a very concrete way?
Very concretely, there are several paths that can be followed. We need to accept that there is no gradient between human beings and that all human beings have the right to be whatever they want to be.
This interview was originally conducted in French.
Source: DW
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