Video installation and photography exhibition
with Flinnworks, Berlin / Dar Es Salaam / Old Moshi
In Old Moshi, Tanzania, a head is missing. The head is of Chief Meli who fought the German colonial occupation of territory in Kilimanjaro and was executed as a result in 1900. His head is said to have been shipped to Germany at the request of the Ethnological Museum director Felix von Luschan. Von Luschan collected thousands of skulls from all over the world for scientific testing based on racial ideology. Many of the skulls, including those from Old Moshi, are still stored in Berlin. The search for the head of Chief Meli has been ongoing for over 50 years, led by Meli’s grandson but until now without success.
Yet traces of Chief Meli can still be found in songs, stories and archives. This has formed the basis for a Tanzanian-German collaboration where a video installation depicts the life story of Meli: as a freedom fighter, his violent death and the possible journey of his head. Re-examined historical photographs and documents complement the exhibition.
Mangi Meli Remains will travel from Berlin via Dar es Salaam to Old Moshi, where the exhibition will remain as a place of remembrance and a placeholder for Chief Meli’s missing head.
Artistic direction, concept, script, animation Konradin Kunze
Concept, script, exhibition Sarita Lydia Mamseri
Storyboard, drawings Amani Abeid, Cloudy Chatanda
Animation Sharron Mirsky, Malte Stein
Sound Design, composition Dr. Andi Otto
Historical consultancy Dr. Holger Stoecker, Prof. Arnold Temu
Community consultancy, management Old Moshi Gabriel Mzei Orio
Voices Nkwabi Elias Ng’hangasamala, Michael Ojake and others
Song Mary Charles Mrema
Technical solutions Georg Werner
Oral history Isaria Anael Meli
Company Management Helena Tsiflidis
A Flinn Works Production in coproduction with Ethnological Museum Berlin and Tieranatomisches Theater at Humboldt University Berlin. Supported by Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa, Goethe Institute Tanzania and Between Bridges
Tieranatomisches Theater Humboldt University Berlin
Opening 8th November 2018, 7 pm
9th November 2018 – 12th January 2019 Tuesday – Saturday 2 – 6 pm
as part of the exhibition The Dead, as far as [ ] can remember