Material: metal/ glass
Location: The column will be located in front of the two buildings, directly in front of the steps near the ramp

The sculpture has a round layout and is 10m high. The form of the memorial refects the classic elements of a column often used in the history of Western architecture and art. The column has no base or capital. Its core consists of oak wood (symbolic German tree). All around the core, there are slots holding rows of glass containers (54 rows that represent the 54 African nations) filled with different soil and sand samples from the African continent. The head and foot of the column are made from iron (a reference to railways).

In the upper iron element of the column, the number 1884 is engraved and painted with fuorescent paint. 1884 was the beginning of the Berlin Conference (Congo Conference), which in practice led to the colonisation of the entire African continent. The Berlin Agreement resulting from the conference can be seen as the formalisation of the Scramble for Africa, the division of the continent and the subsequent industrial colonisation. On the iron base plate of the column, the independence dates of all the African states are engraved (from 1950 to 1991). The column will be erected as a memorial for the decolonisation and a warning to former colonial powers.

Link to Artist page