ADfD is a digital monument to migration in Germany. Rooted in collective processes, we seek forms that connect migration experiences and public memory culture. Due to the current toxic discourse on migration in Germany, we feel an urgent need to connect and counteract. We wish to contribute to a positive framing for migration discourses and counter current xenophobic movements. We propose an alternative position to right-wing populism like the AfD "Alternative für Deutschland". Instead, we approach migration for its potential to weave spaces and memories into an inclusive, collective space—a safe space created and maintained by diverse, evolving communities. Our focus is on queer feminist voices, as they have long been silenced in our context.

 

Questions we explore: What might a monument commemorating migration look like? In what ways can memories of migration be shared and preserved? What significance can a collective approach have in expanding public space remembrance culture? What role can emerging digital formats play in this context? We are embarking on a trace search through migration memories and towards a new form of monument that merges digital and urban spaces. The process of developing the memorial is community-based and anchored in citizens' meetings at the Spore Initiative in Neukölln and other places, where stories and visual ideas are shared, and the monument’s form is developed together. ADfD connects the migration histories, testimonies, and visual memories of citizens with migration backgrounds and ethnic minorities living in Berlin in a series of audio-visual artistic representations. Poetic, subjective, and subversive experiences connect spaces from around the world in the fabric of our shared urban space. The monument creation process involves lectures, discussions, artistic workshops, and performances by renowned cultural workers.

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Monuments become spaces within their discursive field where memory undergoes a transformative development, facilitated by the complex exchange among various groups engaged in a continuous dialogue about contested sites, statues, buildings, landscapes, and the profound quest for recognition and redesign. Our research delves into the significance of the imaginary and the immense potential lying within these intricate processes in private and public archives. It explores the diverse contemporary manifestations of visual and media expressions, which emerge as integral components of this discourse.

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In collaboration with SISKA