A strong partnership for culture, education and community
For 2022 years, the Kigamboni Community Center (KCC) in Tanzania and Salon International e.V. have been working together to create new perspectives through culture, education and intercultural exchange. Our cooperation focuses on decolonial approaches and the question of a common, shared culture of remembrance. This year, Playbackbühne Jenfeld is joining us for the first time – an exciting expansion of our collaboration.
Our projects rely on artistic forms of expression such as theater, music and dance to initiate critical reflections on history, identity and global interdependencies. While the KCC in Tanzania opens up educational and creative spaces for young people, Salon International e.V. networks local actors in district culture. The Playbackbühne Jenfeld brings personal stories to the stage in an improvised way, thereby opening up new perspectives on individual and collective memories. The project will also be supported by Habib Diliwa, a theater producer from Dar Es Salaam and part of the AjabuAjabu media collective.
A particular highlight was our joint project in 2024 with the youth theater in Jenfeld, the Jenkitos: Tanzanian and German young people brought their stories, experiences and perspectives to the stage in a joint production. This artistic experiment showed how art can become a medium for a critical examination of a shared history and identity.
We have learned that artistic creation is a powerful tool for change. Together, we question colonial narratives, create new narratives and strengthen intercultural exchange. In 2025, we are working with the KCC and Playbackbühne Jenfeld to develop a play about the Maji Maji War and shared memory culture, which will be performed at the town twinning festival in June 2025.
The exchange projects with the KCC are just one area of our work in Jenfeld. Since 2023, we have been offering various formats that convey knowledge about the colonial traces in the district in new and creative ways. One project that was developed with the educational and cultural mediator is called “Beats, Rhymes and History”. Agten has created a musical contribution to the so-called “Tanzania Park”, in which he raps to sample-based beats. You can see what the whole thing looks like here: (Link to the “Beats, Rhymes and History” project) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNUeRm2k4ZQ&t=37s
