Walk 19.10.24, 4 p.m. Entry: Free

WELTWORTREISENDE

Graz Decolonial

Hall of Beef Weltwortreisende

The urban walk Graz Decolonial addresses three dimensions of coloniality in Graz. Firstly, it renders Black perceptions of Graz visible and audible. Colonial and racist symbols continue to be present in the city, and represent a painful
part of the daily confrontation with colonial heritage.

A further continuity is represented by the ongoing presence of “soft” colonialism, which shaped Austria from the rule of the Habsburg monarchy through to its present-day role in the Balkan region. The third emphasis lies in current neo-colonial and imperial entanglements.

To what extent are Graz’s economy and politics involved in the various extractivist projects and theatres of war on this planet – and why does this tend not to be thematised in public debates? The walk will bring us to sites in Graz that tell something about these three interwoven dimensions – from memorials, street names, and symbols to gaps, omissions, and moments of repression.

The format will be developed in close conversation with experts, activist and cultural communities, and includes both historical and political perspectives and artistic and literary contributions.

Urban Walk as Part of the Festival “Weltwortreisende”. More about the festival HERE.

TEAM

Rivka Saltiel, Sara T. Huber, Markus Gönitzer, Adjani Kamucote, Heide Bruckner, Anela Dumonjić, Jennifer Brunner, Anna Verwey, Sarah Baumgartner, Derya Özkaya, Fabian Prettner und Fiston Mwanza Mujila.

Image: Zsa Zsa Section Literature

WELTWORTREISENDE

Graz Decolonial

Europe as a province | 4th transnational literature days of Graz

This year's festival theme is inspired by a collection of essays by the Indian historian Dipesh Chakrabarty. For a long time, the West presented itself as the centre of the world, the stronghold of science and culture, the sole representative of reason and liberal values, a homogeneous space, while all other territories had to remain on the outside and relate to it - colonies, protectorates, overseas territories, German East Africa, the Global South, the Third World...

The conquests and explorations (as well as colonisation and cultural theft), the industrial revolution, the development of technology and the humanities contributed to the construction of a hierarchical, bipolar, antagonistic world that knows only one centre and its periphery.

Today, this world view seems archaic and is increasingly being called into question. For the so-called Global South, the West is no longer the only political, cultural and economic model. Decolonisation and the armed conflicts in Europe after 1945, the collapse of the USSR, the fall of the Berlin Wall, geopolitical reconfigurations, the development of postcolonial studies, art and literature as well as migration movements have all contributed to the erosion of traditional, Eurocentric perspectives.

Today, we are witnessing the emergence of a multipolar world order and, at the same time, a progressive and untouched acceptance of the heterogeneous characteristics of our society. Based on collective and transnational movements against sexist violence and violence against black people, as well as the ecological crisis and the outbreak of the pandemic, a global awareness of the problems and upheavals of our time is emerging, which is also reflected in contemporary literature.

The Transnational Graz Literature Days, or World Word Travellers for short, are a meeting place for languages and cultures, literature and the imaginary - a heterogeneous place in constant motion, where borders become bridges, oases in the desert or cherry trees that bear fruit all year round.

Curated by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
Organised by ISOP and Forum Stadtpark

Translated with DeepL