defa-futurum, Im Zentrum der US-Militärspionage (At the heart of the US military espionage), "disco film 5," 1975, 9 min
© DEFA Foundation
defa-futurum / Gottfried Kolditz, Im Staub der Sterne (In the dust of the stars), 1976, 95 min
© DEFA Foundation, Berlin

Decolonizing Socialism: Entangled Internationalism. An Intersectional Study of Cold War Projects from East Germany in Cinema and Cybernetics with Relevance for the 21st Century

October 2019 to September 2023

Leading institution: HEAD – Genève, CCC Research-Based Master Programme, Fine Arts
Applicant and Project Manager Prof. Dr. Doreen Mende
Project team: FNS-funded Doctoral Researcher Lea Marie Nienhoff, project collaborator TBN
Project Partners: Prof. Charles Esche, Van Abbe Museum EindhovenDr. Anselm Franke, House of the World Cultures Berlin
Financing: FNS, HEAD – Genève

The objective of the case-based Research Project is a decolonial analysis of under-researched or disregarded Cold War projects with a focus on cybernetics, internationalism, art and cinema from the Global Cold War period with relevance to the 21st Century. Situated in the field of Visual Cultures, the Research Project aims to mobilize practice-based approaches to engage in the critical analysis of case studies of art practices from socialist geographies of the Cold War period from Europe with a specific focus on operational concepts of cybernetics and internationalism. In this framework, the project’s cross-disciplinary, practical and trans-historical approach aims to foster an awareness for anti-colonial movements, anti-fascist actions and solidarity initiatives in the Global Cold War period with regards to the debates of the period about technology, science, technopolitics, philosophy and art, and what these debates mean for us as well as how they affect us today.
Furthermore, the Research Project follows the principles of “advanced research practices” as developed by the European Forum for Advanced Practices, supported by European Cooperation in Science and Technology, i.e., COST Action 2018-2020. 

For more information, visit the project website https://entangledinternationalism.org/

 



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