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‘1884’ –Pan-African Music-History-Project
Historical Background
The music and history project 1884 is quite simply a long overdue redressing of a historical view on Germany’s past as a coloniser. The “West African Conference of Berlin”, or “Congo Conference”, which opened in November 1884 at the official residence of Germany’s Imperial Chancellor in the Wilhelmstrasse, lasted 6 months and resulted in the arbitrary allocation of African land to European Powers. In history books, the process of invasion, occupation, colonisation and annexation of African territory by European powers is aptly called the ‘Scramble for Africa’.
To this day, the implications of colonialism, maintained in certain countries until the 1980s, still affect politics and economies in Africa, but are often brushed aside. This lack of a reflection on Colonial history gave way to the unparalleled project 1884.
Conceptual Background
The intention of producer and composer, Jonas Bibi Hammond, and executive producer, artistic director and CEO of the Werkstatt der Kulturen, Philippa Ebéné, was to create an album documenting the creative process of the ‘1884’ project. African musicians were invited to an intensive workshop lasting two weeks, which explored their awareness and understanding of the political and historical consequences the year 1884 had on Africa. This exploration resulted in the exceptional and moving album‘1884’.
Aims
‘1884’ provides an important and inspirational contribution to political and historical education, specifically for schools, colleges and universities: Through music and words dealing with “colonialism” and “post-colonialism”, the project ‘1884’ intends to raise the awareness of the European seizure of African territories and its aftermath, which still structures our post-colonial societies today.
History is always written from an exclusive perspective: in the case of Africa, European history-telling reflects the views of the colonisers. For a multitude of reasons, the German colonial past is not part of the historical consciousness of its people. However, ignoring the post-colonial nature of the German state negatively affects the realm of experience of those people whose countries were colonised. The CD '1884' eloquently seeks to re-address and re-balance ossified historical viewpoints through music, by finally taking note of experiences that were quietened throughout the decades.