Assembly of Resources

The Berlin Conference (15 November 1884 – 23 February 1885) assembled representatives from thirteen Global North nations to formalize access to and control over the flow of vital resources – including diamonds, gold, platinum, copper, cobalt, iron, uranium, bauxite, and oil – from the African continent. These mineral resources are fundamental to our existence, powering our technology, metabolic processes, and information transfer within our very bodies. They are the sap of our medialities. This history prompts a critical question: What else is mediated and flows through these colonial exchanges, beyond human intentionality? 

Over two semesters, students from the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG), led by Prof. Filipa César and Prof. Nina Zschocke in the context of the Assembly of Resources seminar, have conducted research into the sites, archives, narratives and materials connected to this legacy. HfG students and alumni will now present their outcome during the opening weekend of DESACTA. Counter-spells to unravel 140 years of the Berlin Conference, an exhibition conceived as an altar for hosting sonic, theoretical, performative, communal, material and spiritual offerings.