GAMSZINE - GAMSZINE N 2, SUMMER 2021 - GENDER AND MEDIA STUDIES FOR THE SOUTH ASIAN REGION - IAAW
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MAGAZIN DES BEREICHS
GAMSZINE
GENDER AND MEDIA STUDIES FOR THE SOUTH ASIAN REGION
GAMSZINE N� 2, SUMMER 2021
IMPRESSUM
COPYRIGHT © LIAM SHAW ON UNSPLASH
GAMSzine
No 2, Summer 2021
Magazin des Bereichs Gender and Media Studies for the South Asian Region
Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Redaktion
Nadja-Christina Schneider
Beitragende zu dieser Ausgabe
Jamila Adeli, Cuc Bach Sandra Ho, Anna Schnieder-Krüger, Mallika Leuzinger, Fathima Niza-
ruddin, Elena Schaetz, Nadja-Christina Schneider, Salma Siddique, Rosie Thomas, Julia Strutz,
Tirthankar, Fritzi-Marie Titzmann
Layout & Gestaltung
Alexa Altmann
Kopien und Vervielfältigungen sind nur nach einer schriftlichen Genehmigung
durch die verantwortliche Redaktion möglich.
Prof. Dr. Nadja-Christina Schneider
Gender and Media Studies for the South Asian Region
Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Invalidenstraße 118
10115 Berlin
INHALT DIESER AUSGABE
Editorial
3
GASTBEITRÄGE
Artistic Research as Intervention Student Protests and Repression in India
within Right-Wing Narratives Practices of (De-)Silencing
FATHIMA NIZARUDDIN TIRTHANKAR
5 7
The Importance of Queer Safe Spaces
in Times of Corona
ELENA SCHAETZ
11
NEUVERÖFFENTLICHUNGEN
Televisual Pakistan Wandel der medialen
SALMA SIDDIQUE & ROSIE THOMAS Kommunikation über Kunst
JAMILA ADELI
17 19
NEU IM TEAM
Anna Schnieder-Krüger Fathima Nizaruddin
Julia Strutz Mallika Leuzinger
COPYRIGHT BY HIN BONG YEUNG ON UNSPLASH
Fritzi-Marie Titzmann
Jamila Adeli
23 25
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021
NEUE FORSCHUNGSPROJEKTE
Mediale und künstlerische Aushandlungen
über transregional geteiltes und lokales Kulturerbe im
Kontext der Belt and Road Initiative
NADJA-CHRISTINA SCHNEIDER
27
ABSCHLÜSSE AM FACHBEREICH
Kulturelle Identität, Stereotype und
Partner*innenwahl. Erfahrungen viet-
deutscher Frauen der zweiten Generation
CÚC BẠCH SANDRA HO
33
OUTRO
Wie wichtig sind medienwissenschaftliche Forschungsmethoden
in den Regionalstudien?
NADJA-CHRISTINA SCHNEIDER
36
LIEBE LESER*INNEN,
3
schrumpfende Räume— nicht nur mit Blick auf die
gewaltvolle Räume—Räume Überwindung geografischer
des Widerspruchs—sichere Distanzen, sondern auch auf
Räume—Denkräume—um ein neues Gefühl von Verbun-
verschiedenste Facetten von denheit. Dass die Idee einer
Räumen, die durch Handlun- Gleichzeitigkeit dennoch
gen hergestellt und verändert trügerisch wäre, zeigt sich
werden, geht es in mehreren an der Wucht, mit der die
Beiträgen dieser Ausgabe. Corona-Katastrophe in Indien
Um sichere Räume, in denen und Nepal die globale Un-
Menschen keine Diskri- gleichheit erneut ins Bewusst-
minierung erfahren, ihre sein ruft.
Meinungs- und Demonstra-
tionsfreiheit ausüben oder in Neben Gastbeiträgen, Ar-
denen sie Widerstand gegen tikeln von Mitgliedern des
autoritäre Tendenzen leisten Fachbereichs Gender and
können. Aber auch um neue Media Studies for the South
Denkräume, die beispielswei- Asian Region, Auszügen aus
se durch künstlerische Refle- Neuerscheinungen sowie
xionen oder Interventionen einer Abschlussarbeit stellen
eröffnet werden können. wir Ihnen auch in dieser
Ausgabe wieder einige neu
Begegnungen, Austausch und hinzugekommene Kollegin-
Zusammenarbeit zwischen nen und ihre spannenden
Studierenden und Lehrenden, Forschungsprojekte vor.
Gastwissenschaftler:innen
und (Post-)Doktorand:innen
fanden auch in der mit der Eine interessante Lektüre
Metapher der „dritten Welle“ unserer Nummer 2
versehenen Phase der Pan- wünscht Ihnen
demie kaum im physischen,
sondern vorwiegend im NADJA-CHRISTINA SCHNEIDER
digitalen Raum statt. Dieser
kann zwar nichts von dem er-
setzen, was schmerzlich ver-
misst wird, aber dennoch viel
mehr ermöglichen als zuvor
vorstellbar gewesen wäre—
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021
GASTBEITRÄGE
»Practice-Based Research«
»Trauma and Silence«
»Safe Spaces«
COPYRIGHT © REN RAN ON UNSPLASH
5
© FATHIMA NIZARUDDIN
POSSIBILITIES FOR INTERVENTIONS
WITHIN RIGHT-WING NARRATIVES
THROUGH ARTISTIC RESEARCH
In contemporary India, majo someone who works and lives My research focuses on how the
ritarian Hindutva groups that in India, the circulations of this platform WhatsApp is used by
situate certain minorities in the ecosystem that include extreme the Hindutva actors to make their
country—especially Muslims—as speech as well as violence has an circulations ubiquitous (Nizarud-
outgroups have gained an un- impact on my everyday life. As din, 2021) in a climate where a
precedented ascendency under a result, I was not keen on wear- sizeable section of the population
the current right-wing BJP led ing the cloak of an ‘objective’ or in the country uses the platform
government. This ascendency ‘neutral’ researcher.1 So, my work for everyday interactions. The
has expanded the scope and which employs artistic method relatively flexible methodological
reach of the Hindutva ecosystem ology uses a constructivist episte- framework of artistic research al-
of hate that uses digital networks mological framework that looks lowed the adoption of a bricoleur
as well as grassroots mobiliza- at findings from a study as be- approach which uses multiple
tions to consolidate the electoral ing created from “the process of methods (Gray & Malins, 2004)
fortunes of BJP under the Prime interaction between the inquirer to gain insights about the various
Ministership of Modi. My re- and inquired” (Gray & Malins, practices that contribute to the
search which is located in this 2004, p. 20) way in which WhatsApp is used to
context is an attempt to examine maintain and expand the Hindu
the possible ways through which 1 Even though that cloak might be imaginary tva networks. These insights were
(Smith, 2008), its shadow continues to haunt
the circulatory capacities of this ideas about knowledge production in acade- used to create filmic experiments
ecosystem can be disrupted. As mia. to enquire about the possibility
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021
6 of forming interventions that can
disrupt the circulations of this
response to a changed landscape
of communication where mobile
references:
Gray, C., & Malins, J. (2004). “Visualizing research:
A guide to the research process in art and design.”
ecosystem of hate. My interven- internet and messaging platforms Ashgate; British lib checked.
Haseman, B. C. (2006). A manifesto for performative
tions rely on the work of Kabir, like WhatsApp have transformed research. “Media International Australia Incorporat-
ing Culture and Policy: Quarterly Journal of Media
the South Asian weaver poet from the modes of everyday interaction Research and Resources”, 98–106.
Nizaruddin, F. (2020). Resisting the Configurations for
the fifteenth century. A large sec- as well as cultural production. The a Hindu Nation. “HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theo-
ry”, 10(3).
tion of the oral traditions, popular processes of the research—which Nizaruddin, F. (2021). Role of Public WhatsApp Groups
Within the Hindutva Ecosystem of Hate and Narratives
imagination as well as scholarly are still ongoing—include phases of “CoronaJihad”. “International Journal of Commu-
nication”, 15(0), 18.
work around Kabir positions him of doing digital ethnography as Smith, L. T. (2008). “Decolonizing methodologies: R
search and indigenous peoples.” Zed Books.
as a figure who refused to identi- well as going through a wide
fy as either a Hindu or a Muslim. range of existing literature that
In my work which draws its title touches upon various dimensions
“Bura na milya koi” (“I didn’t find of the manner in which right-wing
anyone evil”) from one of the vers- groups use social media networks
es that is attributed to Kabir, this to build formations similar to the
refusal became the locus around Hindutva ecosystem of hate. One
which filmic sites of engagements of the key takeaways from these
were created. research processes is an aware-
ness that in order to study the
The very existence of the Hindu entanglements between social
tva ecosystem of hate is depen media and the expansion of right-
dent upon a constant production wing groups there is a need to BURA NA MILYA KOI LOGO © FATHIMA NIZARUDDIN
and reaffirmation of the bounda- create research collaborations that
BURA NA MILYA KOI YOUTUBE CHANNEL
ries between Hindus and Muslims cut across disciplinary bounda-
(Nizaruddin 2020). The di gital ries. Such collaborations should
practices of this ecosystem work bring engineers, scientists, socio
together with a range of media logists, lawyers, historians, media
material as well as processions practitioners, philosophers, psy-
and other public performances chologists and artists together to
including violence. The filmic ex- formulate new ways of studying
periments that were part of my re- these entanglements in a constant-
search process were extremely lim- ly shifting landscape of digital
ited in their scope and scale when communication technologies. The
compared with the formidable framework of artistic research
Hindutva circulatory networks. which is a form of performative
However, within the framework research that creates new mean-
of artistic research, they provide ings and possibilities (Haseman,
insights about the kind of practices 2006) can be a valuable vantage
and processes that can undermine point for such collaborations.
the capacities of these networks.
These filmic experiments draw FATHIMA NIZARUDDIN
from and build upon existing Fathima Nizaruddin is a Postdoctoral Visiting
practices from independent docu- Research fellow with the Department of
Gender and Media Studies for the South
mentary practices in India as well
Asian Region (April-October 2021) supported
as the heterodox and anti-caste by a postdoctoral research fellowship at the
traditions around the verses of International Research Group on Authorita-
Kabir that work against the log- rianism and Counter-Strategies of the Rosa
Luxemburg Stiftung. She is an academic and
ic of divisive configurations like filmmaker; she works as an Assistant Profes-
that of Hindutva. The transmedial sor at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
scope of these experiments was in
7
STUDENT PROTESTS AND REPRESSION IN INDIA
ON TRAUMA, EMBODIED VIOLENCE AND
PRACTICES OF (DE-)SILENCING
The idea of watching police vide- The suicide of Rohith Vemula, a ed by mental harassment for
os has always been traumatic for doctoral candidate at the Univer- months. This transfer from the
me. So when my friend asked me sity of Hyderabad (January 2016), body and mind to the memory
if I wanted to watch something sparked a new debate on caste- scapes is retained and revisited
funny, my expectations of some- based discrimination and experi- in intervals when triggered by
thing amusing soon turned sour. ences of Dalit students in Higher ambient events. Allan Young has
It turned out to be a ‘funny’ police Education Institutions. It also led studied this kind of trauma in
video where a policeman is pun- to a series of student protest on depth to figure out the nitty-grit-
ishing a woman for violating the the university campus for many ty of “cruel and painful expe-
law by beating her. It was unex- months till it witnessed a rare in- riences that corrupt or destroy
pected for my friend and an ex- stance of violence on March 22, one’s sense of oneself” (1996: 93).
pected reaction for me. Ever since giving blanket rights to the state He also highlights the need to
the police beatings, incarcera- to move in and crush the protest read traumatic memory as of two
tions and hounding, the police with brutal police violence and types: mental memory which he
is like a malaise to be kept as far arbitrary arrests. My incarcera- defines as “the mind’s record of
away as possible. But why? Why tion, for taking part in anti-caste the patient’s own traumatic ex-
does an image of a policeman discrimination protests, of two perience” (Young 1996: 95); and
hitting someone trigger a whole weeks in a high-security central bodily memory where the body
COPYRIGHT BY ANNIE SPRATT ON UNSPLASH
chain of reactions which makes prison in 2016 was preceded by retains past experiences and their
me feel uncomfortable? physical torture and succeed- manifestations in different forms.
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021
8
This past experience can be
In the vast spectrum of rituals and habits, memory keeps shaping the iden-
accessed through this note,
written in 2016:
tity, or rather the act of revisiting the memory keeps shaping the identity.
I was abducted, beaten, threatened and sister and mother. This, I repeat, are about what was going to happen next.
scarred by the very institution which supposed to be our protectors. For the Every time we asked them, they said
is supposed to protect me from all those next forty minutes, we were continu- our future is ruined so it doesn’t mat-
barbarities. On the 22nd of March, af- ously kicked, slapped, punched, our ter much. We were presented in front
ter the police force had brutally lathi- hair was pulled, poked by the stick. of a magistrate, after over 30 hours of
charged protesting students who were They called us anti-nationals, ISI arrest, which is a clear violation of the
armed with slogans and songs, they agents, Pakistani. Why? Because we law. The magistrate, at her residence,
did not stop the onslaught there. Af- protested against an institutional mur- saw only just a handful of us and sent
ter driving away the students from derer? They abused Rohith Vemula, all of us to judicial custody. Neither
the premises of the Vice-Chancellor’s calling him a ‘motherfucker’ and said was there any evidence nor any im-
lodge, the police started pushing us how does the death of one matter so mediate reason, but the police wanted
backwards. They not only pushed but much? We were told that our sisters to make a point, and they did by sub-
also groped, manhandled and molested and mothers would be raped, that the verting all the institutions of the state.
women students and faculty who were girls of UoH are ‘sluts’, ‘prostitutes’. Our rights were suspended, we were
with us. Perhaps this was the oppor- And they are our protectors, make no tortured and beaten mercilessly, we
tunity they looked for, in their line of mistake. Our phones were snatched were not allowed to have any legal aid,
duty. Some of us went to the officers immediately and we were cut off from and we were not allowed to inform our
and reported the matter, to which they, communication for the next 72 hours. friends and family of our whereabouts.
of course, turned a blind eye. Instead I cannot but think this as an abduc- I refuse to believe that any crime, which
of taking actions against the molesters, tion. We were taken to multiple police has not even been proved, will call for
they arrested the students who dared stations, treated worse than criminals, such inhumane treatment. The police
to question them; and not just arrest all the while threatened. We were told chargesheet says the amount of materi-
them, but beat them mercilessly (some that every time there is unrest on the al vandalised as ‘nil’, yet we have been
of which is caught on camera). I was campus, we will be picked up by the po- booked under section 3 of PDPP (Pre-
sitting in the parking lot of School of lice, even if we have not done anything. vention of Damage to Public Property)
Humanities, some 100 meters from Along with the physical assaults, the act. People taking videos of the brutal-
the VC’s lodge, after the brutal attack verbal abuses of sexist, racist nature ity were arrested. Why are the police-
on students. Getting hit a few times, I continued till we reached Miyapur men so scared of some videos? There
was trying to get myself composed to police station. A handicapped student are so many questions which need to
face the prevailing situation. Sudden- was hit more for being handicapped be answered and I sincerely hope that
ly I was picked up by a few constables visually. Our names and caste were justice will be meted out for such grave
and they dragged me to a police van. I asked and Muslim students were se- violation of human rights and the Con-
must have posed a great threat to the lectively tortured more. I requested stitution of India. Two cases have been
nation, for two constables held my col- them not to hit my face since I wear slapped on me under six sections of
lar and hair while others started beat- glasses. They heeded the requested the IPC (Indian Penal Code), without
ing me with their sticks and one came by hitting me more. My glasses broke even a shred of evidence. I have been
and kicked me. (…) A student who was by incessant slapping and right now told that my future, academic and oth-
taking a video of this brutality from somehow I am managing with the bro- erwise, is doomed forever. I cannot ex-
some distance was caught and made ken glasses. We were taken to a doctor press in words, for they won’t do justice
to endure the same fate. After they put at a government hospital who simply to the experience, about what happened
him on the bus, the policemen told him prescribed painkillers and declared on the 22nd of March and thereafter. It
that he should take nude videos of his us fit for the court. We were clueless goes much beyond the physical torture.9
DRAWING BY © NAVINA RÖSSLER
Post the events from 2016, I the premonitions. There were fabrication. The ‘unofficial’ ver-
have seldom talked with anyone those, amongst us who were sion, however, was relegated to
about what transpired. I never incarcerated, who did lecture the memoryscapes since they
spoke to my family about it and tours and appeared visibly on were silenced. It is quite interest-
they knew better to not ask me. the TV sets but they had polit- ing to note that only after I came
None of the places of work ever ical careers ahead of them, so to Germany and that too after
had a clue about my past and an ‘active record’ is better than months of staying in Germany,
neither did I feel the need to none. For the rest of us, the in- did I decide to share the stories
give it away. The threat was structions from the police were with anyone. The spatial dis-
palpable – what if someone clear – speak and you will be tance was indeed a boon in the
got to know about the criminal in trouble. It was a not a veiled recovery of this narrative and
proceedings against me, what statement, rather it couldn’t be the expression of it. The tempo-
if I am asked to leave my job, any more direct. There was an ral shift is negligible since the
what if I am asked to report ‘official version’ of the truth and period is just a few years. For
to the local police as a preven- facts from the state authorities, most, it is usually decades till
tive measure – were some of which we knew were a complete they start telling their stories.
COPYRIGHT BY ANNIE SPRATT ON UNSPLASH
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 202110
While seated in a group, I started the identity or rather the act of re- Young, Allan. 1996. “Bodily memory and traumatic
memory”. In Tense Past: Cultural Essays in Trauma
telling my story of incarceration. visiting the memory keeps shap- and Memory, edited by Paul Antze and Michael Lam-
bek, 89-103. London: Routledge
The entire group went silent, till ing the identity. It is from these
someone suggested that we call responses (or the lack thereof)
it a day. The next day, one of the from ambient agents that leave a
persons from the group came up mark and affect the way the story
and apologized for not being able will be told, or which aspects of
to come up with any response to the story will be silenced. It is
my story. I told him that it didn’t a dynamic process of affecting
need any response and that I was and get affected which makes
not sure as to why I even told the remembering highly contestable.
story in the first place. These ex-
changes determine how we con-
duct our day-to-day activities. In
the vast spectrum of rituals and
habits, memory keeps shaping
TIRTHANKAR
Tirthankar is trying to not get into
‘trouble’ for dissent and debate,
which incidentally is also the topic
on which he wants to do his PhD.
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 202111
DRAWING BY © ANA ELOÍSA SOMMER
THE IMPORTANCE OF QUEER SAFE SPACES
IN TIMES OF CORONA
I’ve heard about a Finnish study aged me what felt like ten years to keep your social circle as small
that says most people start los- in one year. Friendships that used as possible, to protect yourself
ing friends around the age of 25. to give me an incredible amount and the people around you. Meet-
My 25th birthday was last spring, of joy and energy became like ings that are still possible now
sort of in the prime of the first long-distance relationships: You are limited to Zoom, Skype and
Corona wave. I’m not quite sure miss each other, but the distance FaceTime, and when the longing
why, but when I found out about constantly stands in between, the for real contact becomes too great,
the study, I felt directly attacked. chats and video calls briefly give you pack your thermos and meet
My social life has always been you the feeling of closeness and for a walk. But even when I walk
insanely important to me, I nev- familiarity, but as soon as you put with a friend across the Flugfeld
er wanted to be the person who the phone away again, you feel from Leinestraße to Tempelhof,
neglects friends or only meets even lonelier than before. Add to none of that is enough. I miss the
people sporadically because of a that the elimination of all friend- fleeting acquaintances, I miss be-
romantic relationship. I used to ships and acquaintances that just ing asked before a meeting if they
take every opportunity to bring aren’t deep enough for me to want could bring someone else along
my friends together, in parks, to talk to them regularly on the with them, I miss the spontaneity
at parties, for dinner, at events. phone. The friends you still meet of the city, suddenly everything is
And then Corona happened and now have been carefully selected too small and too quiet...
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 202112
This city, which always seemed but the norm. But the need for safe idea, we need our allies and of
gigantic to me as a child, is now spaces is often not or at least not course we want our non-queer
just my little neighborhood - to fully understood by some people friends to be there. But when the
the canal, to the supermarket outside the community who have people for whom these places
and back home again. The plac- never experienced any kind of dis- were actually created as safe
es of the short time forgetting are crimination. Many of these people spaces are exposed to the male
closed, we have not been dancing often try to downplay the need for gaze or even experience assault
there for a long time now. With the safe spaces by arguing that Berlin in those very places, then the con-
clubs, many places were closed itself is known as one of the most cept no longer works. And while
down - places of encounter, of queer-friendly cities worldwide. I appreciate the recognition the
culture and places of queerness. And while these people certainly queer scene is getting these days,
And while other cultural venues don’t mean any harm, this is still an I’m also confused by it all. How
such as theaters and museums ignorant statement. Perhaps they did queerness become a trend?
have also had to close, clubs stand have never witnessed hate crimes How can an identity be in or out
out because they not only inspire and naively assume that everyone of fashion? After all, it’s not only
and entertain, but form and sus- in Berlin experiences only accept- about aesthetics; it’s about the
tain identities. ance and tolerance, but to claim that people behind it. Queerness is
discrimination against the LGBT not a fetish or a fashion it-piece
For many young queer people, community is no longer a problem that you can put on and off as
clubs are still safe spaces that are just because you don’t notice it is a you please. Queerness and the
now sorely missed. For them, night- very obvious fallacy. way people react to your queer-
life means an opportunity to ex- ness everyday shapes you as a
press and explore themselves, their While queer culture has received person and sometimes there is
gender and sexuality in a protected more and more attention and nothing glamorous, edgy or cool
space. Some queer people cannot recognition in recent years, this about it.
come out where they live because has unfortunately taken a toll on
it would put them at too much risk. our safe spaces. Suddenly queer- Queer culture is closely inter-
Some of them have been stuck at ness has become, somewhat, twined with nightlife, think of
home with people who don’t ac- cool. You can experience this queer bars, vogueing balls, drag
cept them, who misgender them or hype especially at queer parties, shows - but there is more to it.
harm them since the beginning of for example at Berghain, the gay Queer support groups, NGOs,
this pandemic. Gender affirming club par excellence. While the and counseling centers are also
surgeries were postponed, queer myth-enshrouded techno club safe spaces that have likewise
support groups are closed - many has been the ultimate coolness been closed or moved to home
queer people feel abandoned or symbol of the Berlin Techno offices due to the pandemic. Now
forgotten in the crisis and need scene for ages, also transcend- the community is trying to stay
safe spaces like queer clubs all the ing the queer scene, Berghain together digitally, but people
more now to protect their mental is — or rather was — actually who relied on these places still
health. These clubs are a place to once a queer safe space as well. feel alone. While everyone seems
escape to, a place where you are not Some events at Berghain are still to agree that social contacts play
only accepted but also understood gay-only-parties and the regular an important role for our mental
without having to explain yourself. Saturday-to-Monday club night health, the only social contacts
When you’ve been an outcast all is mostly queer, but you also that are really socially accepted
your life because of your queerness, meet straight cis people there. right now are mostly limited to
it’s very empowering to suddenly Which in itself shouldn’t be a the core family. Even though the
be in a space where queerness is problem, opening queer parties number of infections skyrock-
not an exception and a minority, to non-queer people is a valid eted at Christmas, there were13
special exceptions for the contact Club Quarantäne completely digi- Projects like Club Quarantäne make
rules over the holidays, which, tizes a club night, from the mo- the pandemic a little more bear-
however, applied in almost all of ment you enter, when the bounc- able, even if the virtual parties
Germany only to closest relatives. er asks you which artist you came can’t match the energy in the real
Only Berlin changed this rule, so for today, to the international line clubs. Nevertheless, this has cre-
that also not relatives could meet up with famous techno DJs. If ated new food for thought. For
in a small group. This example you feel like meeting new people, example, in terms of access to safe
shows how queer and alternative you can use the chatrooms - the spaces. Club Quarantäne, which
lifestyles and family concepts are virtual bathroom stalls, to talk to only requires an internet-enabled
still devalued in Germany and other clubbers. Club Quarantäne`s device, allows many people to
how the heteronormative family clubbers remain anonymous, access queer parties, even if
continues to be considered the there is no possibility to turn they live far from LGBT friendly
untouchable norm. on your own camera. First this places or if their physical or men-
seems like a pity, but the ano- tal conditions make attending a
We already have one year of the nymity also creates a safe space. real party otherwise impossible.
pandemic behind us. One year This is similar to techno parties
we have learned to prioritize in in Berlin clubs before the pan- It is a positive development that
order to protect ourselves and demic, where there was a strict we are now thinking more about
others. To do so, we’ve digitized ban on taking photos and cell inclusion, where our safe spaces
almost our entire lives, even our phone cameras had to be taped are located and whether there
safe spaces, which is something off before entry to enable safe might be alternatives to them that
I certainly never would have ex- spaces and to make clubbing are more self-determined, flex-
pected over a year ago. more intimate. However, at Club ible and accessible to all. But in
Quarantäne it also happens that any case, permanent digitization
People get creative and try to links to video chats on Zoom of all areas cannot be the everlast-
adapt to the situation. One great and similar platforms are then ing solution.
example is Club Quarantäne, a shared in the chats, which makes
queer online party that has been getting to know each other
gaining lots of popularity lately. face to face possible after all.
ELENA SCHAETZ
Elena Schaetz is a student of African Studies
(MA) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She
holds a Bachelor’s degree in German Literature
and Area Studies Asia/Africa. Her work focuses
on literature, culture, gender and queerness in
South African regions. Since 2020 she has been
working as a student assistant in the Depart-
ment of Gender and Media Studies for the
South Asian Region.
COPYRIGHT © ELENA SCHAETZ
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 202114
DRAWING BY © ANA ELOÍSA SOMMER
This city, which always seemed gigantic to me as a child, is now just my little neighborhood -
to the canal, to the supermarket and back home again.
The places of the short time forgetting are closed, we have not been
dancing there for a long time now.
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021
COPYRIGHT BY DEREK LEE ON UNSPLASH
15NEUERSCHEINUNGEN
»Televisual Pakistan«
»Kunst, Markt, Kommunikation: Die zeitgenössische Kunstwelt
in Indien im Wandel (2000–2018)«
COPYRIGHT © CELINE YLMZ ON UNSPLASH17
TELEVISUAL PAKISTAN
and criticism, coming close to be- as ‘Televisual Pakistan’ to ges-
This excerpt has been produced ing cancelled before its telecast, ture to the continually inter-
from the editorial in BioScope: when the regulatory authority medial nature of television.
South Asian Screen Studies (Vol. Pakistan Electronic Media Regu- Colonial censorship, serialized
10, no. 2) as an introduction to the latory Authority (PEMRA hence- print digests, online streaming
special issue on Pakistan Televi- forth) communicated to Hero TV platforms, and the hashtag ac-
sion cultures. the 3000-plus complaints it had tivisms explored in the articles
received against the publicity featured here convey the porous
A unique offering appeared on trailers of the show.1 However, boundaries of contemporary tel-
television in the Ramadan of the show eventually aired 13 ep- evision. A special issue on Paki-
2012 in Pakistan. It was the show isodes and recorded the highest stani television culture is both
Astaghfar (lit. Repentance) with TRPs of the season. Thus, in As- a symptom of and a corrective
actress Veena Malik. It invited taghfar we see on display many to the sparse scholarship on the
television audiences to phone in of the social and political issues theme. Through this special is-
to confess to their sins and seek that have coalesced around tel- sue we hope not only to partic-
forgiveness in the holy month evision in Pakistan, such as fe- ipate in the larger project of the
observed by practicing Mus- male performers negotiating diversification of a critical and
lims all over the world. Veena rigid conventions; the role of the self-reflexive ‘Pakistan studies’
Malik had been chosen to host religious establishment in regu- (Bajwa, 2016) via cultural stud-
the show not for any immacu- lating performance and content ies and media anthropology. We
late or pious reputation, but for on television; the alertness to see these forays into the multi-
reasons quite contrary. Many public sentiment and a desire sited televisual space as an oc-
in Pakistan and beyond would to gauge, frame and mould it; casion for new methods, diverse
have liked to watch repentance and finally, the emphasis on the positionalities and a desire to
and public contriteness from the medium itself in resolving some produce theory — an empirical
actress. Malik, who had acted in of the pressing problems in Pa- investigation into what Pakistan
a number of films in India and kistan. These are also the recur- reveals about the mass medium.
Pakistan, had been in the eye of a ring themes through which this
moral storm in the country after issue of Bioscope explores the The liberalisation of the media
she appeared nude on the cover televisual, whereby the mission in 2000 is accepted as a defining
of an Indian life-style magazine of television goes beyond the moment in the landscape of
with ‘ISI’ inked prominently on medium and becomes a central television in Pakistan, which
her upper arm. When Veena node of information and cultural until then was limited to the
urged her viewers to call in to flows in the nation. state-owned PTV broadcasting.
weep, repent and purify, she While the explosion of channels
packaged the show as a mediated Expanding on the notion of tel- and privatisation of production
blessing made available through evision, with its historical ante- seem to be key developments,
the Hero TV channel, very much cedents in print, radio, cinema one of the big shifts, as noted by
part of the larger bounty of the and its contemporary overlaps Muneera Cheema, is the com-
holy month. Unsurprisingly, the with new media technologies, position of the viewing publics,
show met with strong resistance we frame the object of enquiry which since the introduction of
1 ‘NO ASTAGHFAR FOR VEENA‘ Pakistan
Today, July 20, 2012.
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 202118
television in 1967 have become sue is mostly focused on sites of
more multitudinous, fragment- production, circulation and reg-
ed and certainly less elite (Chee- ulation, we move forward in the
ma, 2018). If the hot pursuit of hope that the study of other sites
audience needs and desires can of infrastructure such as TV re-
create a ‘breach in the culture of pair shops (Chirumamilla, 2018)
shame’ (ibid.), it also holds out and the mushrooming training
a promise of social change. The academies will offer new in- SOURCE
Late Show with Begum Nawazish sights into the technological and
Ali, on air between 2005 and aspirational complex of the tele-
2007, went a long way towards visual in Pakistan.
mainstreaming the transgender
References:
community in Pakistan, with
Bajwa, S. (2016). RECLAIMING PAKISTANIYAT. Tanqeed. Siddique, salma & thomas, Rosie: Televisual
the country being the only one March 2016, accessed on November 30, 2019. Pakistan. In BioScope: SOUTH ASIAN SCREEN STUDIES,
Cheema, M (2018). Talk Shows in Pakistan VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2 . Sage journals, June 2020.
in South Asia where identity TV Culture: Engaging Women as Cultural
Citizens. Feminist Encounters, 2(1), 08.
cards carry choices of three gen- Chirumamilla, P. (2018) Remaking the set: innova-
tion and obsolescence in television’s digital fu-
ders. While distinctive for being ture. Media, Culture and Society. Vol. 41(4) 433–448.
Hashmi, M. (2012) At the limits of dis-
the first Pakistani show to be course: political talk in drag on Late Night
Show with Begum Nawazish Ali , South
hosted by a cross-dressing man Asian History and Culture, 3:4, 511-531.
(Hashmi, 2012), The Late Show is
certainly not the first instance of
political critique as drag perfor- SALMA SIDDIQUE
mance in the history of Pakistani Salma Siddique is the Principal
Investigator of a DFG-funded film
mass media. The 1979 film Aurat spectatorship project at GAMS,
Raj dared to radically question Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
the gender binary by having
actors Sultan Rahi and Waheed
Murad appear in drag in a narra-
tive that addressed political sys-
tems and media regimes. Thus,
the intermedial genealogy and COPYRIGHT © SALMA SIDDIQUE
contemporary entanglements of ROSIE THOMAS
television in Pakistan allow us Rosie Thomas is Professor of Film
to move beyond assumptions at the Centre for Research and Edu-
cation in Arts and Media (CREAM),
of a cleavage between TV and University of Westminster.
cinema, TV and radio, TV and
serialised digests, and TV and
new media. Televisual Pakistan
is intermedial, multi-sited and
an infrastructurally networked
entity. And while this special is- COPYRIGHT © ROSIE THOMAS19
WANDEL DER MEDIALEN KOMMUNIKATION
ÜBER KUNST
Kunstkritik und Art News bekommen im Zuge der Globalisierung und Mediatisierung
des lokalen Kunstfeldes eine neue Bedeutung.
Auszug aus der Dissertation von sie jedoch auszuführen, dass and artists into the New York Times,
Jamila Adeli, veröffentlicht unter der Stellenwert der Kunstkritik you will be advertised worldwide,
dem Titel „Kunst, Markt, Kom- in Indien ein ganz anderer sei: you will be known, and elevated to
munikation: Die zeitgenössische Während Texte von Kunstkritik- another level. I’m not sure that that
Kunstwelt in Indien im Wandel er*innen im Kunstfeld außerhalb kind of importance is held here. I
(2000–2018)“ (Heidelberg/Berlin: Indiens ein Publikum hätten und mean it’s just again, for the lack of
CrossAsia, 2021). die darin vertretenen Meinungen museums and what I said, you know,
wertgeschätzt würden, gebe es in that whole culture doesn’t exist, and
Die Aussage, dass in Indien die Indien diese Kultur der Kunstkri- the fact that the culture of writing
mündliche Überlieferung einen tik, die Praxis des Schreibens has not really existed, I don’t know if
hohen Stellenwert habe, machen über Kunst, nicht. Keine*r ihrer it’s in our system to—I mean none of
mehrere interviewte Akteur*in- Sammler*innen frage sie nach my collectors will say, oh, you know
nen. Ähnlich wie die Galeristin den neuesten Besprechungen so what are the reviews? But the first
aus Mumbai deuten auch andere oder Kritiken zu Kunstwerken, thing that you’re asked by a western
Akteur*innen an, dass es sich an denen sie interessiert seien. collector is, you know, what are the
mit der Produktion und mit der Im Gegensatz dazu sei die Frage kind of art criticisms that have been
Wertschätzung von Wissen über nach den neuesten Kunstkri- vocal about you… and you feel quite
zeitgenössische Kunst anders tiken das erste, was westliche lost, because, you know, there hasn’t
verhalte als z. B. in der Kunstwelt Sammler*innen von ihr wissen been much.
in New York. Dort habe man ein wollten. Und hier fügte sie nach (Audiotranskript,
anderes Verhältnis zu Texten kurzem Zögern hinzu, dass sie shomu 2010: 34-35)
über Kunst bzw. zur Kunstkri- sich bei dieser Frage etwas verlor-
tik. Dass und wie in Indien über en fühle, weil es schlichtweg ein- An ihren Ausführungen wird
Kunst geschrieben werde, sei bis- fach kaum Kunstkritiken gebe, sichtbar, wie eine der wichtig-
lang in Indien nicht sehr wichtig auf die sie sich beziehen könne: sten Galeristinnen Indiens um
gewesen. 2010 über den Stellenwert der
adeli: What do you think is the rel- Kunstkritik urteilt. Sie sieht
Diese Wahrnehmung bestätigte evance of text? in ihrem Arbeitsbereich keine
auch eine weitere etablierte shomu: Text? große Bedeutung in der Produk-
Galeristin im Gespräch mit mir. adeli: Yes, the relevance of text in tion von Wissen über Kunst und
Auf meine Frage nach der Rele- the contemporary art world in India. führt dies darauf zurück, dass
vanz von Texten im Kunstfeld in shomu: I think it’s an interesting es in diesem Feld bislang kaum
Indien reagierte shomu zunächst question which—you know, I don’t zu ausreichender Professionalis-
erstaunt und betonte, dass sie sich know how much—you know, honest- ierung und Institutionalisierung
nicht in einem lesenden Umfeld ly I don’t move in a reading public. kam. shomu führt die fehlende
(„reading public“) bewege. Nach All the opinions are made by criti- Kunstkritik bzw. mediale Kom-
einer kurzen Denkpause begann cism. When you get your gallery munikation über Kunst darauf
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 202120
zurück, dass es in der zeitgenös- Sie erzählte mir nicht nur, dass es Das Buch von Jamila Adeli wird im Sommer 2021
sischen Kunstwelt in Mumbai Unterschiede bezüglich des Sym- open access erschienen und kann kostenlos
ONLINE gelesen oder als PDF heruntergeladen
keine Lese- und Schreibkultur bolwerts von Kunstkritik und werden. Darüber hinaus wird es als Hard- oder
(reading culture, culture of writing) Kunst- bzw. Ausstellungsrezen- Softcover-Publikation bestellbar sein.
gebe, was aus der fehlenden Mu- sionen in der indischen und west-
seumskultur resultiere. Obwohl lichen Kunstwelt gebe, sondern
es beispielsweise mit dem Art beschreibt auch, dass sie sich an-
India News Magazin, dem Fach- gesichts der Tatsache, dass sie ei-
magazin für moderne und zeit- nem westlichen Sammler kaum
genössische Kunst, mit akade- Kritiken und Rezensionen bieten
mischen Ausstellungskatalogen könne, etwas verloren fühle (vgl.
zur zeitgenössischen Kunst1 und Audiotranskript, shomu 2010: 35).
den akademischen Workshops Das Gefühl des Verlorenseins ist
der School of Arts and Aesthet- aufschlussreich. Auch wenn diese
ics der JNU in Delhi2 durchaus Formulierung nur im Gespräch
eine theoretisierende und intell- mit shomu auftritt, so schwingt
ektuelle Beschäftigung mit zeit- das Gefühl des Verlorenseins
genössischer Kunst gab, spricht den noch in den Aussagen zur
die Galeristin der Kunstwelt in fehlenden staatlichen Unter-
Indien zu diesem Zeitpunkt eine stützung und dem Wunsch nach
Reading Culture, Reading Public einer eigenen, lokalen Kunstkul-
CREATIVE-COMMONS-LIZENZ CC BY-ND 4.0
und eine Writing Culture ab. tur stets auch bei den anderen adeli, jamila: Kunst, Markt, Kommunikation: Die
zeitgenössische Kunstwelt in Indien im Wandel
mit. Meiner Beobachtung zufol- (2000–2018). Heidelberg/Berlin: CrossAsia eBooks,
2021 (Media and Cultural Studies)
shomus Wahrnehmungen ma ge entsteht es während der Inter-
chen ihre Haltung zum Feld der view- und Gesprächssituationen
Kunst in Indien deutlich. Ihr dann, wenn auf den lokalen Ar-
erscheint die in Ausdifferenzi- beitskontext die Schablone der
erung befindliche Kunstwelt mit westlichen Kunstfeldpraktiken –
ihren neuen Organisationen und hier die Bedeutung der Kunstkri-
Institutionen in dynamischer En- tik – gelegt wird.
twicklung, doch sieht sie die Orte
und Räume der Wissensproduk-
tion in Indien noch nicht so aus-
differenziert und hoch reputiert JAMILA ADELI
an, als dass sie ihnen allzu viel Jamila Adeli studierte Kunstgeschichte, Filmwis-
Relevanz zuschreibt. Mit ihrem senschaft und Anglistik an der Freien Universität
Berlin, promovierte 2019 bei Nadja-Christina
Vergleich zwischen dem west- Schneider am IAAW zum Wandel der zeitgenös-
lichen Kunstfeld und ihrem in- sischen Kunstwelt in Indien (2000-2018), und
dischen Kontext wird ihre Ein- spezialisierte sich als Kuratorin und Wissen-
schaftlerin auf zeitgenössische Kunst und deren
schätzung besonders deutlich. Funktionen in der MENASA Region. Aktuell
forscht sie als wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin
1 Die Begleitpublikation der Ausstellung „Where im Verbundsprojekt „De:Link//Re:Link - Lokale
in the World!“ in der Devi Art Foundation in
Delhi ist in Kollaboration mit der School of Perspektiven auf transregionale Ver- und Ent-
Arts and Aesthetics der JNU entstanden und koppelungsprozesse“ zu künstlerischen (De) COPYRIGHT © JAMILA ADELI
eine erste zusammenführende Auseinanderset-
zung mit der zeitgenössischen Kunst in Indien. Konstruktionen kulturellen Erbes im Kontext der
2 Die School of Arts and Aesthetics der JNU Alten und Neuen Seidenstraße.
in Delhi richtete den mit vielen indischen
Theoretiker*innen und Praktiker*innen be-
setzten Workshop „Figuring the Curator“
am 18. und 19. September 2010 aus.GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021
COPYRIGHT BY PEYMAN FARMANI ON UNSPLASH
21NEU IM TEAM
Anna Schnieder-Krüger
Dr. Julia Strutz
Dr. Fritzi-Marie Titzmann
Dr. Jamila Adeli
Dr. Fathima Nizaruddin
Dr. Mallika Leuzinger
COPYRIGHT © ILNUR KALIMULLIN ON UNSPLASHANNA SCHNIEDER-KRÜGER
23
Anna Schnieder-Krüger holds a different social spheres and how
BA in Areas Studies Asia/Africa students themselves negotiate
and an MA in Modern South and their own position in the political
Southeast Asian Studies, both and national context.
from Humboldt-Universität zu
Berlin. During her studies, she
spent several semesters abroad,
at Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU) in New Delhi and at the Uni-
versità di Bologna. Her research
interests include academic free-
dom, student activism, campus
culture, theories of social space
as well as transmedia memory
practices and protest tactics. Since COPYRIGHT © ANNA SCHNIEDER-KRÜGER
March 2021, Anna is a doctoral
candidate at the Department of
Gender and Media Studies for the
South Asian Region at IAAW. In
her PhD research, she focuses on
the changing role and meaning(s)
of the university in contemporary
Indian society. Her research also
aims to explore how the figure
of the student is constructed in
JULIA STRUTZ
Dr. Julia Strutz` research interest is (RePLITO)”, funded by the Berlin
Istanbul and she has made use of University Alliance. In this con-
several, not obviously related, ac- text she organizes online courses
ademic disciplines to understand taught by scholars at risk about
the city better: Sociology and Po- “Living Together” and coordi-
litical Science (Humboldt-Univer- nates RePLITO’s digital platform.
sität zu Berlin), Ottoman History Julia is also one of the co-founders
(MA, İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi), of OFF-UNIVERSITY, a cooperation part-
Urban Studies (MA, Università ner of RePLITO.
degli studi di Urbino „Carlo Bo“)
and Social and Economic Geogra-
phy (PhD, Katholieke Universiteit
Leuven). She has done research
on public space, the construction
COPYRIGHT © JULIA STRUTZ
and housing sector, the mahalle
as well as the politics of conser-
vation and memory politics. At
the Institute for Asian and Afri-
can Studies, Julia is a postdoctor-
al member of the research group
“Beyond Social Cohesion - Global
Repertoires of Living Together
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 202124 FRITZI-MARIE TITZMANN
Dr. Fritzi-Marie Titzmann‘s re- in Modern Indian Studies at the
search focuses on contempora- Institute of Indology and Central
ry South Asia and encompasses Asian Studies, Universität Leip-
themes of media and gender zig from 2014 until 2020, joining
studies with special emphasis on IAAW again thus feels like re-
processes of digitalization. Fritzi turning “home”.
joined the Department of Media
and Gender Studies for the South
Asian Region as a postdoctoral
member of the research group
“Beyond Social Cohesion - Global
Repertoires of Living Together
(RePLITO)”, funded by the Berlin
University Alliance. The aim of
COPYRIGHT © FRITZI-MARIE TITZMANN her new research project is to pro-
vide a theoretically informed ana-
lysis of media practices, strategies
and associated discourses for the
staging of solidarity in various re-
cent protest movements in India.
Fritzi holds a PhD (2013) and an
MA (2009) from the Institute of
Asian and African Studies at
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
After having worked as a lecturer
JAMILA ADELI
Dr. Jamila Adeli is a researcher This new research at the Depart-
and curator based in Berlin. Her ment of Gender and Media Stud-
main interest lies in contemporary ies for the South Asian Region
art in the „Global South” (particu- focuses on contemporary art and
larly the MENASA region) and media practices as a means of (de)
its interrelation with processes of constructing and conveying new
economization, mediatization, lo- socio-cultural narratives within
calization and societal change. In the framework of China’s Belt and
2020, she completed her PhD pro- Road Initiative in Beijing, Lahore
ject entitled “Art, Market, Com- and Colombo.
munication: The Contemporary
Art World in India in Transition
(2000-2018)” at the Institute for
Asian and African Studies at Hum-
boldt-Universität zu Berlin (forth- COPYRIGHT © JAMILA ADELI
coming with CrossAsia). Jamila
started her postdoc project at the
joint research project “De:Link//
Re:Link: Local Perspectives on
transregional processes of entan-
glement and disentanglement”,
funded by BMBF, in April 2021.
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021FATHIMA NIZARUDDIN
25
Dr. Fathima Nizaruddin is an ac- The Audio-Visual South Asia. Since
ademic and documentary film- 2007, she is an Assistant Professor
maker with a keen interest in at AJK Mass Communication Re-
practice-based artistic research. search Centre, Jamia Millia Isla-
Her stay at the Department of mia, New Delhi. Her films have
Gender and Media Studies for been screened at various interna-
the South Asian Region, Hum- tional film festivals and academic
boldt-Universität zu Berlin is part spaces.
of a postdoctoral fellowship from
Rosa Luxemburg-Stiftung (RLS).
She is a member of the Internation-
al Research Group on Authoritar-
ianism and Counter-Strategies, an
initiative of the RLS. Her postdoc-
toral work focuses on the possibil- COPYRIGHT © FATHIMA NIZARUDDIN
ity of using the work of the South
Asian saint-poet Kabir to create
transmedia interventions with-
in right-wing WhatsApp circu-
lations. Fathima’s peer-reviewed
work has appeared in journals
such as BioScope: South Asian
Screen Studies, HAU: Journal of Eth-
nographic Theory, International Jour-
nal of Communication and Dastavezi:
MALLIKA LEUZINGER
Dr. Mallika Leuzinger is a post- has been reconfigured over the
doctoral fellow at Princeton Uni- past decades. Mallika is current-
versity and visiting researcher at ly beginning a project entitled
the Department of Gender and “Archival Imaginaries and the
Media Studies for the South Asian Politics of History in South Asia”.
Region. She studied History and This new research looks at the rise
Gender Studies at the University of digital crowdsourced platforms
of Cambridge and completed her dealing in histories of the Indian
PhD in History of Art at Univer- subcontinent.
sity College London in 2020. She
is interested in postcolonial mo-
dernity, everyday technologies
and archival practices. Her doc-
toral thesis attends to the spaces
and relations of “domestic” pho- COPYRIGHT © MALLIKA LEUZINGER
tography, examining the practic-
es of Haleema Hashim, a Kutchi
Memon woman in the south In-
dian port city of Cochin, and the
peripatetic Bengali twin sisters
Manobina Roy and Debalina Ma-
jumdar, as well as how their work
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021NEU BEWILLIGTE
FORSCHUNGSPROJEKTE
BMBF-Projekt »De:link//Re:link:
Lokale Perspektiven auf transregionale Ver- und Entflechtungsprozesse«
COPYRIGHT © BILYANA SLAVEYKOVA ON UNSPLASH27
Neues Forschungsprojekt im Rahmen des Verbundprojekts „De:link//Re:link:
Lokale Perspektiven auf transregionale Ver- und Entflechtungsprozesse“,
gefördert durch das BMBF (2021-2024).
COPYRIGHT © TASLIM KHAN ON UNSPLASH
MEDIALE UND KÜNSTLERISCHE
AUSHANDLUNGEN ÜBER TRANSREGIONAL
GETEILTES UND LOKALES KULTURERBE IM
KONTEXT DER BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE
Die Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) ment als sog. Neuer Geber in der Titelzeile wie „Can China Turn
steht primär für die Ausdehnung Entwicklungszusammenarbeit the Middle of Nowhere Into the
und Verbindung geografischer in Afrika und Asien kommuni- Center of the World Economy“
Räume durch großangelegte In- ziert. Viele der verfolgten Infra- (NYT, 29 Jan 2019), hier bezo-
frastrukturprojekte und wird als strukturprojekte werden entspre- gen auf die als ‚leer‘ und unbe-
Katalysator von Austausch und chend als development cooperation wohnt wahrgenommenen Räume
Handel weltweit vermittelt - Kon- gerahmt und strategisch eng der zentralasiatischen Steppe,
COPYRIGHT BY SANGGA RIMA ROMAN SELIA ON UNSPLASH
nektivität, Kooperation und Mo- mit der Vorstellung eines ‚An- steht dabei beispielhaft für die
bilität sind hierfür die Schlüssel- schlusses‘ marginalisierter Re- tiefgreifende Irritation, die dieses
begriffe. Kooperation ist zugleich gionen und Gesellschaften an als unidirektional wahrgenom-
der zentrale Begriff, mit dem die die Netzwerke und Knoten- mene (also primär chinesische
chinesische Regierung seit vielen punkte globaler wirtschaftlich- Interessen verfolgende) Projekt
Jahren ihr wachsendes Engage- er Aktivitäten verknüpft. Eine im sog. Globalen Norden auslöst.
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 202128
Eine ähnliche Spannung zeigt Hieraus ergibt sich für das lässt sich dies am Bau der ersten
sich hinsichtlich der kulturellen Forschungsprojekt eine erste Ex- Metrolinie in Pakistan, der im
Dimension der Belt and Road Ini- plorationsebene, auf der die kura- Rahmen der Belt and Road Initia-
tiative. Einerseits verfolgt China torische Inszenierung der Al- tive realisierten Orange Line in La-
mit der Errichtung zahlreich- ten und Neuen Seidenstraße im hore. Dieses Prestigeprojekt wird
er Konfuzius-Institute entlang Museum im Fokus stehen soll. medial als zentrales Symbol der
der neuen Netzwerk-Flüsse eine Analyseleitende Fragen dazu be- chinesisch-pakistanischen Fre-
cultural bzw. heritage diploma- treffen zum einen die Darstellung undschaft inszeniert und geht
cy-Strategie und Soft Power-Poli- des Phänomens Seidenstraße im mit großen Hoffnungen bez-
tik, die das Land als zentralen Ausstellungskonzept und zum üglich der Konnektivität und
nationalen Akteur im Kontext anderen die alten und neuen Kon- wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung
der Alten und Neuen Seiden- nektivitäten, welche jeweils mit der Metropolregion Lahore ein-
straße verankern und so letztlich den Ausdrucksmitten der Kunst her. Ähnlich wie bei anderen
die internationale Anerkennung hervorgehoben werden. Neben Metrobauprojekten in Südasien
des Beitrags der chinesischen den gezeigten Inhalten geht es wurden jedoch auch durch den
Zivilisation zur ‚Weltgeschichte‘ hier also auch um die Frage der Bau der Orange Line viele Men-
erhöhen soll. Andererseits wird verwendeten ästhetischen Mittel. schen dauerhaft verdrängt und
auch hier versucht, einen koop- Eng damit ist die Frage verknüpft, Häuser vernichtet. Widerspruch
erativen Ansatz beziehungs- wie sich (eingeladene) Künst und Protest — nicht gegen das
weise ‚partizipative Mitge- ler*innen aus unterschiedlichen ‚Metro-Mobilitäts‘-Projekt an sich
staltungsmöglichkeiten‘ eines Regionen und Kontexten nicht gerichtet, sondern gegen die Art
transregionalen und geteilten nur mit der Seidenstraße, sondern und Weise seiner Umsetzung —
Geschichtsnarrativs zu vermit auch mit ihrer Aufgabenstellung entzündeten sich insbesondere
teln. Dies betrifft vor allem dazu auseinandersetzen. an der Gefährdung lokaler heri
den Bereich der Kunstvermit- tage sites, historischer Bauten und
tlung sowie die Ausgestaltung Neue Konnektivitäten und ent- Stätten, durch zu nah an ihnen
des Seidenstraßenprojekts als stehende transregionale Räu- geplante oder bereits gebaute
Raum, in dem das angestrebte me, die durch die Netzwerk Metrostrecken und -stationen. In
Ziel des people-to-people bonding architektur und großange- diesem lokalen Kontext reflektier-
insbesondere durch die grenz legten Infrastrukturprojekte be- en und kommentieren zeitgenös-
übergreifende touristische Mo- fördert werden, können jedoch sische Künstler*innen aus Paki-
bilität entlang der deklarierten gleichzeitig neue Begrenzun- stan kritisch, was konkret durch
‚world heritage sites‘ realisiert gen von lokalen Lebensräumen, die Praktiken der Neuen Seiden-
werden soll. Museumsstädte, Diskonnektivitäten und sogar straße bzw. Belt and Road Initiative
Expo Parks, Ausstellungspavil- neue Immobilitäten hervorbrin- gegenwärtig (re)konfiguriert, neu
lons, in denen Kunst, Handwerk gen, beispielsweise wenn arme verbunden oder möglicherweise
und archäologische Objekte aus Bevölkerungsgruppen verdrängt entkoppelt und folglich margin-
mehr als zwanzig ‚Silk Road und dauerhaft von der neuen Mo- alisiert wird.
countries‘ ausgestellt werden — bilität ‚abgeschnitten‘ werden;
all diese neu entstehenden Orte natürliche Ressourcen zu stark Für Zentralasien argumentiert
und Räume entlang der Netzw- beansprucht oder lokale heritage Diana T. Kudaibergenova (2017),
erk-Flüsse, sind von zentraler Be- sites, die sich nicht ohne Weiteres dass die wissenschaftliche For-
deutung für die transregio nale in das große Seidenstraßen-Nar- schung sich bislang kaum mit
Heritage-Tourismusstrategie, der- rativ einpassen lassen, aus dem der wichtigen Rolle der zeit-
en Ausgangspunkt Xi’an im Nor- Blickfeld zu verschwinden oder genössischen Kunst für eine
dwesten Chinas bildet (Winter vernichtet zu werden drohen. selbstreflexive und kritische
2016). Beispielhaft veranschaulichen Ausei nandersetzung mit den
GAMSZINE No 2, SUMMER 2021Sie können auch lesen
