de_colonialanguage

OPEN CALL Stories and Hopes of the Arrivals to Rhine-Main Archipelago as part of WDC 2026 — ENG ⠀ For the “Leseraum: The Metamorphosis of Arrivals and Hosts” we are inviting PERFORMANCE ARTISTS with experience in participatory practices that involve the audience in the performance itself. The mutual transformations of guests into residents, locals into neighbors, migrants into city dwellers—this is, once again, a living, changing society. Our openness toward one another, the ability to understand one another and to read for one another, and to jointly create the knowledge that will bring us closer together, form the foundation of the urban texture around which structures, streets, and squares grow. ⠀ Reading is a process of attentive perception—not just of text—but a method of recognition and openness. Reading is not limited to text; it is a more inclusive method. One can read images, emotions, the weather, expectations, and much more. ⠀ open-call pdf in the Links deadline: May 25, 2026 Text us via E-Mail: [email protected] Share ~ Repost ~ Participate __ DEU Für den “Leseraum: The Metamorphosis of Arrivals and Hosts” laden wir PERFORMANCE ARTISTS mit Erfahrung in partizipativen Praktiken, die das Publikum in die Performance selbst einbeziehen. Die gegenseitigen Übergänge von Gästen zu Bewohner: innen, von Einheimischen zu Nachbar: innen und von Migrant: innen zu Stadtbewohner: innen machen deutlich: Gesellschaft ist lebendig und befindet sich in stetigem Wandel. Diese Transformationen sind geprägt von Missverständnissen, Veränderungsträgheit und gegenseitigen Erwartungen. ⠀ Lesen wird hier als zentrale Praxis verstanden. Nicht als Entschlüsselung von Text, sondern als eine Form der Aufmerksamkeit: ein Lesen von Gesten, Räumen, Emotionen, Wetterlagen, Spannungen, nicht zuletzt gesellschaftlichen Konventionen. PDF zur Open Call in den Links Anmeldeschluss: 25. Mai 2026 Schreibe uns bitte eine E-Mail an: [email protected] Teilen ~ Weiterverbreiten ~ Teilnehmen Design: Rok Krajnc

Today we are launching VOICES OTHERWISE for the first time. We celebrate the curiosity and generosity of the community: duration of presence and the generosity of togetherness nurture gardens that pollinate the thirst of those who seek. We are grateful for the collective reflections and discussions: thoughts, criticism, manifestos, documentation, and epistemological shifts in motion from colonial hopelessness to decolonial solidarity. This book was written by translocal people, all of whom are in different spaces and stages of migration. All of these people explore imperialist ideologies, histories, and practices (particularly Russian one, but not only) and together engage in the awareness and practice of decoloniality. Come support us all today at @missreadberlin Miss Read Talks: 🗓 December 12, 2025, 6:00 PM 📍 Gerichtstrasse 45, 13347 Berlin ✨ Free admission, no registration required 🗣 Event in English Marina Solntseva @solnzewa.marina and Saltanat Shoshanova @quotidian_pleasures will give us a keynote speech on the difference between decolonial and anti-Western conversations, which should not be confused. And then we will have resistance soup - shorpo - prepared by @artofadiba . See you tonight! texts: @quotidian_pleasures Saltanat Shoshanova @nikarkay Irina Denkmann Kreolex zentre: @vilka_viski Maria Vilkovisky and @ruthia_jen Ruthia Jenrbekova @viktoriiasaltar Viktoriia Şăltăr @sashakarpov.1 Alexandr Carpov @olgaalexandrvn Olga Mun Anastasia Kolas @jezishka Tatsiana Shchurko @istudy23 Anton Ikhsanov @anita.araujo.poem Anita Araujo @lou__ix Lou Patrouix @nikolai_nikogdai Kolya Nakshunov @solnzewa.marina Marina Solnzewa @denisesakov Denis Esakov design and pre-press: @sukhova_anya Sukhova Anya illustrations and photography: @gonserovskayaolesya Olesya Gonserovskaya @urgen_kruger Evgeniya Kurtina jula.suli Julia Sulikowska Denis Esakov editing and publishing labor: oi publishing, Denis Esakov printed by TOTEM book printing house @totem.com.pl Das Projekt wird aus Mitteln des Programms des Landes Berlin zur kulturellen Infrastrukturerhaltung und -entwicklung in den Bezirken (Bezirkskulturfonds) gefördert. @kulturmitte

CUT the STREET DOWN TO the GRASS street participative performance partizipative Straßenperformance Sunday, May 17, 15:00 Uhr Hein-Hoyer-Straße 50 St.Pauli, Hamburg We invite everyone to join us for a performance at the crossroads in St. Pauli. This is an open, joint action that will significantly increase the number of living beings and the relations between us all. Come along, bring your friends, loved ones, and kins. Be a part of it. DEU Wir laden alle ein, an einer Performance an der Kreuzung in St. Pauli teilzunehmen. Es handelt sich um eine offene, gemeinsame Aktion, die die Anzahl der Lebewesen und die Beziehungen untereinander deutlich verstärken wird. Kommt vorbei, bringt eure Freund*innen, Liebsten und Verwandten mit. Seid dabei. It’s part of the KIOSK festival, which is taking place in St. Pauli these days (May 15–17) with a massive program. Thanks for the invitation and support: @nogoods___ @danja.burchard @mosab_alfnner @elena_leskovas

КѲЗ [KѲZ] [Мен сени жакшы кѳрѳм] [I see you clear as day] [Ich sehe dich ganz klar] means I love you. In the Kyrgyz language, seeing and feeling are expressing through one another and do not exist separately. Кѳз means Eye. Artists: Altyn Kapalova @altyn_kapalova , de_colonialanguage @de_colonialanguage , Manca Arnuš @ma__rnus Installation made of woven words, woolen thread, organza ribbon, carpet, paper, sound. Work made specially for @slaystans festival (29.04-02.05.2026) at Kulturfabrik Moabit @kulturfabrikmoabit photos 3, 6, 15 made by @yrys.jpeg

@de_colonialanguage ist ein transnationales Kunst- und Forschungskollektiv, dessen Mitglieder aus Zentral- und Nordasien sowie Osteuropa stammen — Kurator:innen, Künstler:innen, Aktivist:innen und Forscher:innen an der Schnittstelle von kritischen Sprachstudien, Dekolonialität und radikaler Solidarität. Seit 2023 entwickeln sie das imaginäre Open Air Museum of Decoloniality am Alexanderplatz in Berlin, die kollektive Universität Nearby Reading Room, ein unabhängiges Verlagsprojekt sowie das Residenzprogramm Voices Otherwise. Seit 2024 ist das Kollektiv auch im Bereich Self-Publishing aktiv, druckt eigene Publikationen und betreibt das unabhängige Verlagsprojekt oi publishing.

Stories and Hopes of the Arrivals to Rhine-Main Archipelago as part of WDC 2026 ⠀ Since the 1990s, millions of people from North and Central Asia, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and Southeastern Europe have immigrated to Germany. Their life stories are often oversimplified by political categories, with their qualifications being devalued and their identities being reduced to a single language. ⠀ The workshop series consists of three parts: Deep Listening, Broad Perception, Critical Changes. Each workshop includes a guided group tour of the city, where personal stories are woven into the city’s design and structures. We share stories, memories, images, hopes, and personal struggles. We create a safe space for sensitive topics and foster thoughtful discussion. The results of this collaborative effort will be presented in the form of a publication and a public guided tour of the city. ⠀ Registration via E-Mail: [email protected] ⠀ ___ ⠀ Stories and Hopes of the Arrivals to Rhine-Main Archipelago im Rahmen der WDC 2026 ⠀ Seit den 1990er-Jahren sind Millionen Menschen aus Nord- und Zentralasien, dem Kaukasus, Osteuropa sowie Südosteuropa nach Deutschland eingewandert. Ihre Biografien wurden häufig durch politische Kategorien vereinfacht – ihre Abschlüsse entwertet, Identitäten auf eine Sprache reduziert, einige dieser Geschichten, im Falle postsowjetischer Migrant: innen, abschätzig unter beispielsweise “Russen” subsumiert – ihre Mehrfachzugehörigkeiten unsichtbar gemacht. ⠀ Die Workshopreihe folgt drei Bewegungen: Deep Listening, Broad Perception, Critical Changes. Jeder Workshop endet mit einem gemeinsamen Spaziergang – einer Praxis des situativen Lesens im urbanen Raum. Geschichten von Migration, Zugehörigkeit und Verlust werden geteilt – nicht als Daten, sondern als gelebte Erfahrung. Das Projekt entfaltet sich zwischen individueller Erfahrung und kollektiver Artikulation – und fragt danach, wie die Stadt als geteilter Raum neu gelesen werden kann. ⠀ Anmeldung per E-Mail: [email protected] link in Links. Team: @denisesakov @ani.menua @solnzewa.marina @daiaanaguch @___aniba___ @funnykoss @jul1a_rotenberg

Nearbynesses nearby the M.Gabowitsch and M.Homanyuk’s book Monuments and Territory that emerged in discussion lead by Manca Arnuš @ma__rnus in last Nearby Reading Room: 01/ Decapitated Tito monument (Velenje). Erection of Jesus monument (Świebodzin). 02/ Restoring color to ancient Greek sculptures. Painted in colors WWII monument in Ukraine. 03/ Russian propaganda’ plastic monuments, 2022. 04/ A Soviet tank Memorial (Kunowice). 05/ Stolen nose of Dezhnev sculpture in the monumenal enssemble Unity of Russia and Sakha Republic. 06/ Flame of Friendship monument (Hettstedt, 1974). Eternal Fire monument (Kharkiv). Map of russian gas pipilens. 07/ The Memorial to the Victims of Deportations of 1944 (Grozny). 08/ Mausoleum Cemetery of Soviet Soldiers in Warsaw (1949-50). Monument revisited by artist Artur Żmijewski’s “Red Army Memorial and Mausoleum: Recomposition” work (2025). 09/ The Captive and the Gift book by Bruce Grant. Monument to russian colonial general Yermolov (Pyatigorsk). 10/ On Vacation...Corpus Equorum, project by Lachezar Boyadjiev. Monument to the Russian emperor Alexander II (Sofia). 11/ Origami Deer (Pokrovsk) by Zhanna Kadyrova at Venice Biennial (2026). 12/ Russia gifted for 1 year its pavilion to Bolivia for the 2024 Venice Biennial. 13/ Ice, novel by Sonallah Ibrahim, based on his own disillusioned experience studying at the All-Russian Institute of Cinematography in Moscow (1971-73). 14/ Afghanistan war rugs gained popularity after the Soviet invasion (1979). 15/ A Soviet stamp commemorating Mozambique’s liberation from colonial rule and Russia’s current military policy there. 16/ Art and Democracy in Post-Communist Europe by Piotr Potrowski. Architecture in Global Socialism by Łukasz Stanek. 17/ The “Sword Monument”, dedicated to Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah. Erected in 1965 by a Polish sculptor Alina Ślesińska as symbol of Polish-Ghanaian Friendship. 18/ The neoclassical Aeolian harp on hill above Pyatigorsk, built by Russian colonizers of the Caucasus in 1831 in amidst the Caucasian War. 19/ Lenin Monument at the foot of Mount Beshtau (Pyatigorsk). 20/ Cher sitting on a toppled Lenin monument in Yerevan in 1993.

On the Politics of “Friendship of Peoples” Thursday, 23 April 2026, 7.30 pm Lecture performance and conversation with Manca Arnuš | de_colonialanguage In January 2026, @ma__rnus and @de_colonialanguage embarked on a three-month project to explore the concept of “Friendship of Peoples”. This seemingly benevolent catchphrase, coined and promulgated by the USSR, proved too good to be true. Essentially, it served as an anti-imperialist facade both in internal and external Soviet policy, but at its core, it was a myth, deeply rooted in the automythologies of the USSR and the utopian socialist project. The Friendship ideology permeated the textual, the visual, the architectural, the literal, the cultural, the public. It guaranteed equality between all fifteen socialist republics – but anchored in Moscow. It supported the rights of all ethnic minorities in the USSR – but in Russian. It championed the dissolution of the colonial empires and the newly emerged nation states in the “Global South” – but through the prism of an imperial and colonial logic. It gave – but it mostly took away. The exploration and dismantling of the myth of Soviet friendship was based on group readings, fieldwork, artistic and academic research, and the participatory practice of constructing a counter-monument to Friendship at the Open-Air Museum of Decoloniality on Alexanderplatz in March 2026, as the rhetoric of the Friendship of Peoples can be found manifested in different places in Berlin as well. Alexander’s Square features a Brunnen der Völkerfreundschaft (Friendship of Peoples Fountain), and, hidden among the Plattenbauten of Marzahn, there is a mosaic column dedicated to the Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft (German-Soviet Friendship). The results of this collaborative work will be presented and discussed in the format of a lecture performance grounded in conflict. Who is friends with whom? The drama will unfold in several acts, combining textual, audio, and bodily imagery of ideological friendship, reconfiguring the verticality of transactional friendship into its upturned mode: decentralized horizontality. #politicsoffriendship #friendship #ideology #decolonialanguage #diffrakt

Language, migration, belonging and memory in post-Soviet societies: TONGUES OF RESISTANCE curated by SİNEMAplural fellow Azem Bekturova For her SİNEMAplural Projects contribution, on Saturday 11. April, Azem Bekturova invites guests to an evening in two parts. 🎫Tickets and details available at sinematranstopia.de 📍@sinematranstopia | Lindower Str. 20/22, Haus C, 13347 Berlin The TONGUES OF RESISTANCE Shorts Program and Panel Discussion at 18:00 brings together two shorts exploring migrant-diasporic experiences in the post-Soviet space – Alisa Berger’s K-SARAM I: Tale of the pig head and Sakhamin Trofimov’s Songs of Doulan. This will be followed by a discussion with Denis Esakov, Daria Kim, Igor Sivtsev, and Azem Bekturova on the complexities of language, migration and belonging. In cooperation with de_colonialanguage. & At 20:30, the evening continues with a screening of Seitsemän laulua tundralta (Seven Songs from the Tundra). A canonical work of indigenous cinema, in seven episodes, Lapsui and Lehmuskallio trace the life of the Nenets people in the Siberian tundra and depict the violence with which the Soviet regime intervened in their lives. Slide 2: Photo credits: Denis Esakov by Carina Khorkhordina Daria Kim by Katya Palityka Igor Sivtsev

Why Russian? text by Manca Arnuš @ma__rnus and Ana Muñoz @ana_mm10 Ana from Cádiz and Manca from Ljubljana studied Russian Philology in Tartu and spent a summer in Almaty. They are critically reflecting on their time in both spaces, and the many questions that arise when knowledge is narrowly shaped by the dominant national narratives and colonial policies. “But why Russian?”, everyone keeps asking me. I never seem to give a satisfactory reply, each time blatantly expected by that one person who knows better than studying a language of the well-known oppressor. And what happens when two women, eager to uncover what Russian academia prefers not to say, meet in Barlova, drink beer, dream of reading modern literature instead of Tolstoy, long to learn accents and dialects rather than memorize Grammar and Syntax, begin asking why Tatarstan, Dagestan, or Kazan never appeared in our syllabi, and wonder what would happen if Russian Philology was instead called Russophone Philology? I am so intrigued by the mechanisms of the so-called “big languages”. This notion is not solely based on the number of speakers or translations made annually into a certain language, but rather on the language’s dominance which inseparably entails cultural and historical primacy. This ever so obvious yet often invisible veil of influence has always fascinated me—for example, at one point during WWII Slovenia was occupied by all its four neighbours, then Nazi Austria, Independent State of Croatia, Kingdom of Hungary, and fascist Kingdom of Italy. Naturally, Slovenian was prohibited, names and surnames were changed to sound more German, Italian, Hungarian and Croatian. But the power of the neighbouring languages, German still being the strongest. Criticizing the self-indulgence of the Western languages as the first thing, imported by the conqueror, Glissant emphasizes the concept of relation and errantry as essentially undermining the monolingualism of the conquest. It is only in acknowledging this errantry, this “peripheral” thought, that both parties are allowed to exist in relation text on @syg.ma.editorial design by Rok Ifko Krajnc rok___ik photos by Ana Muñoz & León Ihrke

SHARE YOUR FRIENDSHIP The Open Air Museum of Decoloniality invites all the passers-by to share their nearbynesses of friendship. Share your feelings, disappointments, happinesses, sadnesses, and joys of being a friend. Simply, individually, personally, horizontally, together. Friendship is a word, a drawing, an unknown language, a souvenir, a small gift, a gesture, a pink tape, a pair of scissors. It’s a mosaic. Come March 28th at 13h. Alexanderplatz nearby WeltZeitUhr. We will provide some simple tools to build this mosaic. If you can bring something that reminds you or symbolize a friendship for you, that would be beautiful. But just come and take your friends with you <<

Dear nearby readers, We are warmly inviting you to the second Nearby Reading Room of the year. Together we would love to further weave a discussion on the topic of druzhba narodov / friendship of peoples, but this time through the lens of its monumentality. As our entry point we have chosen Mischa Gabowitsch and Mykola Homanyuk’s book MONUMENTS AND TERRITORY: WAR MEMORIALS IN RUSSIAN-OCCUPIED UKRAINE. The reading format grows in and flows through our nearbynesses, this time OFFLINE. Come share yours and listen to the others’ on April 5th at 3PM in Casino for Social Medicine @casinoooooooooooo Sonnenallee 100, 12045 Berlin With our previous provenance of nearbynesses, Pia Koivunen’s book Performing Peace and Friendship, we learned how friendship could be politicized both internally (USSR as a place of equals) and externally (in the context of Cold War), and put on display rather spectacularly, as was the case with the World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow in 1957. Seven decades later the spectacle turned deadly in Ukraine, as the “Be my friend or die!” creed, blended with Soviet nostalgia, annihilates lives and raises monuments instead. Homanyuk and Gabowitsch’s book delves into the monument and memory practices propelled by the ongoing Russian invasion, viewed also through the historical lens of past catastrophes, and how these are subjected to new political narratives. The question is recurring: How will the dead remember the dead? Everywhere where the past is hovering above the present day, there is no space for the future. On that note, we also kindly invite you to pass by the Friendship of Peoples Fountain / Brunnen der Völkerfreundschaft on Alexanderplatz in Berlin, if you have the chance. Mischa Gabowitsch is a historian and sociologist. He is a professor of Multilingual and Transnational Post-Soviet Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Mykola Homanyuk is a sociologist, geographer, and theatermaker. He is an associate professor at the Department of Geography and Ecology at Kherson State University, where he teaches human geography. cover made by Rok Krajnc