The jury deliberated for two days on September 16 and 17, 2023 at the first judges' meeting of the Decolonial Monument at the Berlin Global Village.

The competition already had a wide reach during the registration phase thanks to effective public relations work. A total of 671 applicants from around the world registered to take part in the art competition for the Decolonial Monument. A total of 244 eligible designs were submitted to the jury through the external coordination of the competition, from which the jury selected 20 designs as finalists with great perseverance and concentration.

The jury was international and consisted of renowned art historians, artists, authors and theorists Kristina Leko, María Linares, Prof. Dr. Chika Okeke-Agulu, Dr. Mithu M. Sanyal, Gary Stewart, Sylbee Kim and Michael Küppers-Adebisi, who brought the project's decolonial approach to the decision-making process. The jury also included a number of highly competent experts who were able to assess designs from an architectural or structural point of view, for example.   

Thanks to the competent support of the Paraphrasis interpreting team and Ellerbrock's reliable translation technology, it was possible to hold the meeting in German and English. The competition process is anonymous, so the jury has no information about the identities of the applicants. How the finalists develop their ideas will remain to be seen in a second jury session. So it remains exciting.

Pictures: Sedat Mehder.