"AfriKaleidoscope" - the film program of the Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth - showed a film in cooperation with ARTE for the second time. On 14 June 2023, the Cluster presented a film premiere. "YES WE CAN – die neue Schwarze Malerei" is a documentary film by Marion Schmidt that deals with the so-called "Obama effect" and, among other things, explores the question of whether the official portraits of the presidential couple, which were painted by African-American artists and generated a great response, were the beginning of a new era or merely the trigger of a short-lived hype. The portraits ensured that the focus is currently on a new generation of African American artists whose works are being noticed in the marketplace. The "Obama effect," however, is not limited to the United States. Throughout the Western world, attention to the diverse and powerful, predominantly figurative paintings of Black artists* has increased significantly.
As part of her film project, filmmaker Marion Schmidt visited three of them in their studios: Jerrell Gibbs from Baltimore, whose portraits paint primarily against the common clichés of Black men; Peter Uka, who is in Cologne pursuing his memories of his Nigerian homeland; and Shannon T. Lewis, whose works explore what the experience of migration means, a topic that the artist knows from her own experience. In addition, the filmmaker met an important representative of the new generation of Black artists in London: the painter Michael Armitage. The son of a Kenyan mother and a British father, he grew up with Kenyan art. Although what Armitage relates in his paintings is invariably set in East Africa, he has also studied the greats of the European art canon in depth.
Following the exclusive premiere screening of the documentary, scholars* from the University of Bayreuth discussed her film and the motivation behind her project with filmmaker Marion Schmidt. The discussion focused, among other things, on the questions that the film also pursues: Is the art of the African diaspora perceived differently today than it was a few years ago? Is the Obama effect also being felt in Africa or Germany, and what developments are there in terms of reception and appreciation of Black art?
The film program "AfriKaleidoscope" enters a new round. In cooperation with @ARTEde, the European culture channel the Cluster of Excellence "Africa Multiple" presents a series of films that focus on various important topics of the African continent.
The first film is "Looted Art in Benin City," from the current series "Africa's New Museums" produced by ARTE. It was shwon in May 2023, at @kunst-undkulturhausneunein8931 in Bayreuth. The film by Jean-Alexander "Sacha" Ntivyihabwa is dedicated to the equally famous and controversial Benin Bronzes, the most important art treasure of the Edo, which were looted by the British army from the palace of the ruler of the Kingdom of Benin in today's Nigeria in the late 19th century and sold off to museums in the global North, including Hamburg.
After the film presentation, the filmmaker engaged in a discussion with the audience and scholars from the University of Bayreuth on the topic of restitution of art objects. Jean-Alexander "Sacha" Ntivyihabwa, born in 1964, is a studied Africanist, historian and passionate music and culture freak. Sacha Ntivyihabwa lives out his enthusiasm for TV making as managing partner of Signed Media, which is represented with its programs in the most important TV markets worldwide. In addition, Ntivyihabwa is also the founder of the anti-racist media watch association the "Brown Mob" and serves as an advisor to the association "Schotstek - scholarships for people with a migration background. He incorporates his intercultural experience and expertise into his TV programs and shares it as a speaker and lecturer at foundations and universities.
The discussion was moderated by Prof. Dr. Ute Fendler, Chair of Romance Literary Studies and Comparative Literature with a special focus on Africa, and Dr. Cassandra Mark-Thiessen, historian and Junior Research Group Leader in the Cluster of Excellence.
The film program "AfriKaleidoscope" enters a new round. In cooperation with @ARTEde, the European culture channel the Cluster of Excellence "Africa Multiple" presents a series of films that focus on various important topics of the African continent.
The first film is "Looted Art in Benin City," from the current series "Africa's New Museums" produced by ARTE. It was shown in May 2023, at @kunst-undkulturhausneunein8931 in Bayreuth. The film by Jean-Alexander "Sacha" Ntivyihabwa is dedicated to the equally famous and controversial Benin Bronzes, the most important art treasure of the Edo, which were looted by the British army from the palace of the ruler of the Kingdom of Benin in today's Nigeria in the late 19th century and sold off to museums in the global North, including Hamburg.
After the film presentation, the filmmaker engaged in a discussion with the audience and scholars from the University of Bayreuth on the topic of restitution of art objects. Jean-Alexander "Sacha" Ntivyihabwa, born in 1964, is a studied Africanist, historian and passionate music and culture freak. Sacha Ntivyihabwa lives out his enthusiasm for TV making as managing partner of Signed Media, which is represented with its programs in the most important TV markets worldwide. In addition, Ntivyihabwa is also the founder of the anti-racist media watch association the "Brown Mob" and serves as an advisor to the association "Schotstek - scholarships for people with a migration background. He incorporates his intercultural experience and expertise into his TV programs and shares it as a speaker and lecturer at foundations and universities.
The discussion was moderated by Prof. Dr. Ute Fendler, Chair of Romance Literary Studies and Comparative Literature with a special focus on Africa, and Dr. Cassandra Mark-Thiessen, historian and Junior Research Group Leader in the Cluster of Excellence.
This video documents the public discussion following an ARTE screening hosted by the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the Kulturhaus Neuneinhalb (Bayreuth) on April 15, 2026.
The event featured Episode 1 of the ARTE documentary series “Afrikas vergessene Geschichte - Wer war Jan Conny” (Africa’s Forgotten History), presented as part of the “AfriKaleidoskop meets ARTE” screening series.
Following the screening, the discussion brought together filmmaker Ntivyihabwa Jean-Alexander and historian Dr. Cassandra Mark-Thiesen, offering insights into the film’s themes and their broader historical and societal contexts.
The conversation engages with questions of history, memory, and representation, continuing the dialogue initiated by the film within an interdisciplinary and public setting.
👉 Note: The discussion is held in German.
AfriKaleidoskop meets ARTE
Operation Afrika: DIE JAGD NACH DEN ROHSTOFFEN DER ZUKUNFT
18.12.2024 | 7:00 pm CEST
Kulturhaus Neuneinhalb, Gerberplatz 1, 95445 Bayreuth, Germany
On 8th May 2025 the Cluster of Excellence hosted another event within the frame of our well-received cinema lecture series AfriKaleidoskop meets ARTE at Kulturhaus Neuneinhalb in Bayreuth.
It was an exclusive preview screening of ARTE of the first part of the three-part documentary series Südafrikas Weg aus der Apartheid (in German, translated from the original “Free at last: Unsolved stories of Apartheid”), a coproduction of the renowned female South African film maker and actress Xoliswa Sithole (winner of BAFTA prices), and the Dutch investigative journalists Misha Wessel and Thomas Blom.
Teil 1: Suche nach Antworten (in German with English subtitles) was screened and followed by a panel discussion with Cluster scholar Patricia Pinky Ndlovu-Gatsheni, the filmmaker Thomas Blom and a subsequent Q&A session with the audience.
This part of the event was recorded and made available here on YouTube and in the event media hub of ARTE.
