r e t u r n explores questions of longing, belonging and fragmented memory after experiences of loss, displacement and dislocation. Bringing together international artists, the exhibition traces what violence, colonialism and war leave behind: gaps in archives, suppressed histories and memories that continue to live in bodies, landscapes and communities. But r e t u r n does not only ask what has been lost. The works imagine new connections – to people, places and histories, to the environment and to possible futures. Memory and imagination open up new possibilities.
At the same time, looking back remains contradictory. Nostalgia can offer comfort and create a sense of belonging, but it can also idealise the past, reinforce exclusion and feed the idea that it is possible to return to something that may never have existed as we imagine it.
At a time marked by war and displacement, climate crisis and the resurgence of nationalist and far-right movements, the question of what return can mean today takes on a new urgency.
Rather than unfolding through a linear narrative, r e t u r n weaves together fragments and atmospheres, voices and memories, spatial experiences and different temporalities and geographies.
At its centre is a Stage: a place for performances, films, readings, workshops and conversations with artists, scholars, thinkers and communities. Together with universities, civic initiatives, associations and collectives, it brings artistic practices and multiple forms of knowledge into conversation.
Workshop r e t u r n is a space for making, experimenting and discovering together, where artists, initiatives and visitors share practices, materials and knowledge.
The Home Food Canteen Baraza, curated by In-Haus e.V., Creating Community and Kojo-the-Cook, brings food into the exhibition – accompanied by a digital cookbook that grows during the exhibition and collects recipes and stories.
Grassroots organizations and collectives from across Cologne are invited to take their place: to gather, host, speak, cook, perform, make and debate – and to shape the space on their own terms.
r e t u r n is a space in motion – shaped by artworks, bodies and voices, and by the relationships and encounters that unfold within it.
Cooperation partners: In-Haus e.V., Afrotreff e.V., Afrokultur e.V., Rom e.V., Thebeautifulminds Theater, Makkaroni Akademie, The Ramadan Project e.V., InterFemme* e.V., Jugendfreizeitwerk Köln e.V., Uni Köln, Uni Münster, Paris8, Centre Marc Bloch, zamus: zentrum für alte Musik Köln, Cinemaktic Kin, DIN A 13 Tanzcompany, Masurka Concerts …
