re:member the future is a project to conceptualise a memorial and place of remembrance in Chemnitz for those affected by the right-wing terror of the NSU.

re: – A response. An intervention against forgetting

Chemnitz is the only city related to the NSU complex that so far does not have a place of remembrance for those affected and victims of the NSU. There is no physical place in Chemnitz that commemorates Enver Şimşek, Abdurrahim Özüdoğru, Süleyman Taşköprü, Habil Kılıç, Mehmet Turgut, İsmail Yaşar, Theodoros Boulgarides, Mehmet Kubaşık, Halit Yozgat, Michèle Kiesewetter, Atilla Özer and the survivors of the bombings in Nuremberg, Probsteigasse (Cologne) and Keupstraße (Cologne).

re:member – A place of remembrance, of commemoration, of visibility of people, their names and their stories

With re:member the future, a process towards a place of remembrance is to be initiated and accompanied. The project takes the needs and wishes of those affected and their relatives as the centre and basis for the question of how the implementation of a place of remembrance in Chemnitz can be designed. In close cooperation with the relatives and an advisory board of „Critical Friends“, we want to create a concept by the beginning of 2023 that integrates different perspectives from the beginning and makes a proposal for a transparent and participatory tendering process. This should serve as a basis for the development of a proposal in the Chemnitz city council.

re:member the future – A remembrance of continuities from the past. A commemoration in the present in reference to a future

We understand remembering as a political action that can address different dimensions of social power relations and take on many different forms. Within the project, we would therefore like to focus on the following questions:

How can a materialised place of remembrance in Chemnitz commemorate the victims of the NSU and tell their stories? How can the different levels of social responsibility for the possibility and continuation of right-wing and racist violence be addressed and continuous learning spaces be created? How can collective migrant struggles and resistances be made visible and places of coming together be opened?

Project management: Hannah Zimmermann (she/you)

Project collaboration: Arlo Jung (-/dey)

Contact: remember-future@asa-ff.de

In 2021, as part of the micro-project „Spuren – Şopên – ίχνη“ (ASA-FF e.V.), a panel discussion took place at the Neue Sächsische Galerie to examine the conditions for developing a memorial site in Chemnitz. Representatives of the Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025, the educational initiative Ferhat Unvar, the artist Ulf Aminde and the sociologist Hannah Zimmermann took part.

Anne Lehmann has created a visual summary of the event.

You can find the entire panel discussion under this link: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/720652613/418ed37c8f

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