The writing is on the wall
A German human rights group has projected an image on the German parliament building to pressure the government to apologise for the Namibian genocide.
JEMIMA BEUKES
Pressure is mounting from German civil society on their government to apologise for the 1904-08 Nama and Ovaherero genocide.
On Friday last week, German human rights group Pixelhelper projected an image on the Bundestag (German parliament) and the office of chancellor Angela Merkel, with a view to pressurise that government to apologise for the genocide.
The two pictures were posted on the group’s Facebook and Twitter pages and were captioned with a summary of what happened during the genocide.
“During the German colonial period, it was estimated that some 100 000 members of the Ovaherero and Nama communities were killed. Their destruction is the first genocide of the 20th century. Men, women and children were pushed into the [Kalahari] Desert, and access to water was blocked. The Namibian government has worked hard to have the bones returned from several German universities, museums and private stock. They were collected by researchers during the colonial period and brought to Germany. Studies on them also served to support racist theories.”
According to the artist, and chief at the human rights group, Oliver Bienkowski, the picture has been removed by the German authorities.
Light art is an art form in which either a sculpture produces light, or light is used to create a figure through the manipulation of light, colours, and shadows.
According to its website Pixelhelper manages a worldwide activist and artist network for human rights to fight against dictators and point out important social issues.
Pressure is mounting from German civil society on their government to apologise for the 1904-08 Nama and Ovaherero genocide.
On Friday last week, German human rights group Pixelhelper projected an image on the Bundestag (German parliament) and the office of chancellor Angela Merkel, with a view to pressurise that government to apologise for the genocide.
The two pictures were posted on the group’s Facebook and Twitter pages and were captioned with a summary of what happened during the genocide.
“During the German colonial period, it was estimated that some 100 000 members of the Ovaherero and Nama communities were killed. Their destruction is the first genocide of the 20th century. Men, women and children were pushed into the [Kalahari] Desert, and access to water was blocked. The Namibian government has worked hard to have the bones returned from several German universities, museums and private stock. They were collected by researchers during the colonial period and brought to Germany. Studies on them also served to support racist theories.”
According to the artist, and chief at the human rights group, Oliver Bienkowski, the picture has been removed by the German authorities.
Light art is an art form in which either a sculpture produces light, or light is used to create a figure through the manipulation of light, colours, and shadows.
According to its website Pixelhelper manages a worldwide activist and artist network for human rights to fight against dictators and point out important social issues.
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