Programme:

14:00: Reception

14:30: Welcome by Nataly Jung-Hwa Han, introduction to the project, input from Dr Gülsah Stapel

15:30: Panel discussion and Q&A with Dr. Ibou Diop, Saraya Gomis, Nataly Jung-Hwa Han and Dr Gülsah Stapel, moderated by Sun Hee Martischius

16:30: Presentation of the project results

16:45: Break & get-together with a small snack

17:20: Introduction and Q&A with Miki Dezaki

Strong monuments, strong communities against racism! Korea Verband

“We need a real monument.” - These were the words chosen by the district mayor of Berlin-Mitte, Stefanie Remlinger, to explain why Ari, the statue of peace in Berlin-Moabit, is to be removed at the end of September. The statue is the result of decades of activism and commitment to civil society. What does it take for a monument to be “real” and what makes a memorial or a practice of remembrance “wrong” in the eyes of politicians? Who should decide what a “real” monument is? In a challenge to dominant perspectives, these are the questions we will come together to ask.

With this event, the Korea Verband celebrates the conclusion of the project Strong monuments, strong communities against racism! Ari was our starting point to examine the emancipatory and anti-racist power of migrant memorial spaces. On this evening, we will present the results of the project which show how important places of remembrance are for our city and coexistence, but also how much headwind civil society initiatives of remembrance experience time and again. In view of the announced removal of the peace statue, it is more important than ever for us to come together with allies and support each other.

Korea Verband is a non-profit organization that emerged from the democracy and solidarity movement for Korea in 1990. We campaign for human and civil rights in a variety of ways, both in divided Korea and in Europe, as well as locally in our Berlin neighborhood. We question power structures from a postcolonial, feminist and intersectional perspective and work with different target groups such as young people, adults, activists, multipliers and political decision-makers. We are active in a variety of alliances and have a large and diverse network.

Ibou Coulibaly Diop is a literary scholar and curator. He is currently developing a colonialism remembrance concept for the Berlin Senate and is working together with Lorraine Bluche for the Berlin City Museum Foundation in the Decolonisation Competence Centre.

Saraya Gomis is an educator and political official. She held the position of State Secretary for Diversity and Anti-Discrimination at the Berlin Senate Department for Justice, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination until April 2023.

Gülsah Stapel studied urban and regional planning at TU Berlin, specialising in heritage conservation. She has been working as a curator for outreach for the Berlin Wall Foundation since 2020. Her dissertation Recht auf Erbe in der Migrationgsgesellschaft. A study of places of remembrance of Berliners of Turkish origin has just been published.

Nataly Jung-Hwa Han is Chairwoman of the Board of the Korea Verband e.V. and has coordinated numerous events, projects and exhibitions in this role since 2012. She studied Korean studies, art history and Japanese studies in Tübingen and Berlin. Since 2009, she has headed the Korea Association's ‘Comfort Women’ working group. She was instrumental in the erection of the peace statue in Berlin Moabit and founded the Museum of Comfort Women.

(Sara) Sun Hee Martischius specialises in coaching, adult education, empowerment and mediation. She works with a systemic approach to promote discrimination-sensitive structures and supports people in reflecting on their experiences of racism and discrimination.

(Not) A Real Monument?