The Karibuni Afrika Festival took place in various locations in Frankfurt am Main in the summer of 1989, and it illustrates the disaporic vision of groups like the Initiative of Black Germans, which helped to organize the event. The two-week program of events included artistic and literary presentations by May Opitz and a range of African musical groups, and it combined these with sessions that cast a critical eye on developments in both Africa and West Germany. Attendees could learn about internal racism and oppression in countries like Burundi or Ethiopia or listen to a discussion about Namibia on the eve of its independence. They could engage with broad issues like sex tourism and arranged marriages or debt and the politics of developmental aid. They could also take part in workshops and visit exhibitions on racism in the German language, the press, and children’s literature.
Philipp Khabo Koepsell und Jeff Bowersox
DEUTSCH
Karibuni Afrika – 19.05. – 03.06.1989 in Frankfurt am Main
PROGRAM:
19/05: Fri. Opening with Peter Clarke and the Group Izweletu | 6pm | Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
20/05: Sat. Imazighen-Evening. Mouson-Turm Music Evening with IDIR | 8pm | Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
21/05: Sun. Workshop: Racism in German Everyday Language | 2pm | Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
22/05: Mon. Experts Speak on the Theme of Debt | 8pm | Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
23/05: Tue. Talk-Show: Representation of the African in German Media | 7:30pm | Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
24/05: Wed. Internal Colonialism in Ethiopia and the Oromo Question | 8pm | Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
25/05: Thu. Racism in Africa with the Example of Burundi | 7:30pm | Evangelische Studentengem., Lessingstr. 2
26/05: Fri. Author Reading with Hans-Martin Große-Oetringhausen | 3pm | Kinderbiliothek Bornheim, Bürgerhaus Bornheim
… Talk Show on the Theme of Developmental Aid | 7:30pm |Dritte Welt Haus | Friesengasse 13
27/05: Sat. Imazighen Session. Perspectives on the Future in Algeria | 3pm | Dritte Welt Haus, Friesengasse 13
… Imazighen Music Evening with Seksu-Essen | 6:30pm | Jugendbildungsstätte in Diezenbach
… Live Music with BUBA JAMMEH |8pm | Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
28/05: Sun. Folklore Evening with AFRICA SOLI | 8pm | Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
29/05: Mon. Sex Tourism and Arranged Marriages in Africa | 8pm | Dritte Welt Haus, Friesengasse 13
30/05: Tue. Session on Western Sahara with the Polisario Association |8pm | Dritte Welt Haus, Friesengasse 13
31/05: Wed. Session on the Hotspot of South Sudan | 7:30pm| Dritte Welt Haus, Friesengasse 13
01/06: Thu. Namibia before Independence. NShoombe and Dr. H. Melber | 8pm | Evangelische Studentengem., Lessingstr. 2
02/06: Fri. Africa: Thanks for Your Garbage: Two Experts Report | 7:30pm |Dritte Welt Haus, Friesengasse 13
03/06: Sat. Reading with May Opitz. Articles, Essays, Poems | 4pm | Dritte Welt Haus, Friesengasse 13
… Dance and Closing Celebration with the Group AFRIGO WAVES | 8pm | Fachhochsch,Nordweststadt, Nord-West-Zentrum
19/5-15/6: Pictures from South Africa: Standing Exhibition| Tue.-Sun. from 3pm |Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
23/5-03/6: Exhibition: Africans in the Gm. Children’s and Youth Book | Tue.-Sat. | Kinderbibliothek Bornheim, Bürgerhaus Bornheim
20/5-28/5: Video Library, daily from 6pm, Films on Various Themes | 6pm daily | Mouson-Turm, Waldschmidtstr. 4
Source: Karibuni Afrika Festival Brochure, Each One Teach One (EOTO) Archive, Berlin. Special thanks to Philipp Khabo Koepsell and EOTO for generously providing access to their resources.

Karibuni Afrika Festival (1989) by Philipp Khabo Koepsell and Jeff Bowersox is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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