The exhibition “Paths of Remembrance” was part of the decentralized collaborative exhibition “Decolonial – What Remains?!” and was dedicated to Berlin’s colonial past and the long-standing struggles for a just culture of remembrance. It featured 32 portraits of people who have made a decisive contribution to making Berlin’s colonial heritage visible – people whose commitment to activism, art, science, and community work often had to be enforced against ignorance and resistance. The exhibition at Galerie Wedding honored this commitment and brought it to the attention of the city’s society. For the opening, imagineers lab was commissioned to develop a curatorially sensitive experience design that appropriately framed this moment of recognition and visibility.
For the opening of “Paths of Remembrance”, we worked closely with Galerie Wedding and the Berlin City Museum under the curatorial direction of Dr. Ibou Diop, who made the exhibition possible as part of “Dekoloniale – Was bleibt?!” (Decolonial – What Remains?!). In addition, the focus was on collaboration with the participating curators, artists, and community representatives in order to jointly design the evening in such a way that the complexity of memory became visible.
Our goal in designing the experience for “Paths of Remembrance” was not only to address the topic of memory, but also to make it something that could be experienced physically and mentally. Remembering never happens through words or images alone—it also arises through smells, sounds, encounters, and atmospheres that are inscribed in the body and emotions. That is precisely why we wanted to translate the framework of the exhibition into an all-sensory experience: an evening that not only informs, but also remains in the memory because it evokes an emotional and physical resonance. In this way, the curatorial leitmotif “Paths of Remembrance” also came to life in the design of the opening.
The opening of “Paths of Remembrance” was designed as a multi-layered evening that appealed to different senses and facilitated encounters.
The central elements were:
➔ Careful moderation that honored the struggles, voices, and stories and repeatedly opened up space for resonance
➔ a multisensory setting with music, scent, cuisine, and interior design that appealed to the senses
➔ the linking of community and institutional perspectives through contributions from curators, artists, activists, and those portrayed
➔ the atmosphere of a collective moment in which memory was felt not as a closed narrative but as a shared experience. In this way, the experience design translated the exhibition’s central theme – ways of remembering – into an immediate, tangible practice.
The opening of “Paths of Remembrance” showed how memory can come alive beyond the walls of an exhibition:
➔ Around 150–200 guests attended and experienced the exhibition in a curated setting
➔ Various community and institutional representatives engaged in dialogue, which deepened exchange and the culture of remembrance
➔ the subjects of the portraits themselves became visible and had the opportunity to contribute their perspectives
➔ numerous positive responses from partners, guests, and exhibitors confirmed that the combination of artistic contributions and a multisensory setting made memory tangible in a special way – a result that makes us particularly proud
We have found that experience design goes far beyond traditional event management. This approach has enabled us to apply imaginative methodologies in practice and thus further develop our generative imagination approach. It has become particularly clear that social negotiation processes cannot be thought of in a one-dimensional way: political, artistic, and sensory levels intertwine and together create a form of memory that has a more comprehensive and lasting effect.
The opening of “Paths of Remembrance” has led to further collaborations in the field of experience design. We are continuing our collaboration with the Berlin City Museum and are also designing the opening of a memorial stele exhibition in the African Quarter. Furthermore, the project has demonstrated the potential that lies in combining artistic, political, and multisensory approaches. We intend to incorporate this into future formats and explore it in greater depth.
