Can the ethnological observations and feelings on
Afro-diasporic cultures
of a German writer be “restituted”? What are the possibilities and limits
of using self-reflexion and gay sexuality as research tools?
Since 2017, the exhibition and publication project
Hubert Fichte:
Love and Ethnology has followed this question through Hubert
Fichte's cycle of novels
Die Geschichte der Empfindlichkeit (
The
History of Sensitivity). Fascinated by Afro-diasporic
arts and religions, Fichte (1935–1986) traveled to cities such as Salvador
da Bahia, Santiago de Chile, Dakar, New York, and Lisbon. For the project,
translations from his
Geschichte der Empfindlichkeit became the
basis for critical local receptions and new artistic works in these
cities. The final exhibition “Love and Ethnology – The Colonial Dialectic
of Sensitivity (after Hubert Fichte)” at Haus der Kulturen der Welt
in Berlin presents these reflections against the background of the
relationship between ethnology and the aesthetic avant-garde in post-war
West
Germany.
This publication brings together essays, artistic text contributions, and
a glossary that explains Hubert Fichte's theoretical vocabulary. These are
supplemented by curatorial statements from the past project stations in
Salvador da Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, Dakar, New York, and
Lisbon, as well as extensive photo series depicting the artistic works
from the exhibition at HKW.
Published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at Haus der Kulturen
der Welt, Berlin, from October 18, 2019, to January 6, 2020.
