Crossing borders to find work is no new phenomenon. In our increasingly interconnected world, however, the reasons for immigration are increasingly diverse. A three-city forum via video conference entitled “Work Without a Homeland?” on the politics and culture of contemporary migration will take place at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, the Munich Kammerspiele and the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg.The forum will include selections from three international documentary films on the state of labor in the world today: Last Train Home, Empire of Dust, and Land Ahoy.

Moderator

Wang Ge is a philosopher and specialist in German studies. Her research interests include early German Romanticism, German Idealism, the Enlightenment, and modern German philosophy. She is also a translator of social science and humanities publications.

Speakers

Wang Hui is known as one of China’s most outstanding intellectuals. German weekly Die Zeit once named Wang as one of the most influential global thinkers.

Yan Hairong is a professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her earlier research focused on rural-to-urban migrant workers in China. Current projects include food sovereignty in China and links between China and Africa, the latter conducted with Barry Sautman of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.

Moderator

Rike Sitas explores the intersection of urban studies and creative action. She is particularly interested in the relationship between art, technology, and democratic spaces. Rike is the co-founder and co-director of the non-profit organization dala, an interdisciplinary network of creative practitioners who believe in the transformative role of public creativity.

Speakers

Achille Mbembe is a research professor in history and politics at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand. He is also a visiting professor at the Department of Romance Studies, Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke University as well as a convener of the annual Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism.

Khalo Matabane is a director, writer, and producer. He has directed several documentaries, drama series, commercials, and media campaigns. He has taught cinema and politics at several universities, and in 2010 he completed his first dramatic feature film, State of Violence.

Moderator

Geraldine de Bastion is a political scientist and international consultant with a multicultural background based in Berlin, Germany. She is an expert on information and communication technology. She advises governmental organizations, NGOs, and businesses on digital media and communication strategies.

Speakers

Seyran Ateş was born 1963 in Istanbul. She has lived in Germany since 1969. She was a member of the German Islam Conference and took part in the German government’s Integration Summit.

Jagoda Marinić is a Croatian-German author and columnist. After lengthy stays in Zagreb, Split, New York, and Berlin, Marinić now lives and works in Heidelberg.

Goethe-Institut China

Munich Kammerspiele

Nemetschek Foundation