In their dynamics, interfaces, and migrations between Africa, Europe and the Americas, Black cultures have proved a major force in the global evolution of music, dance, the graphic arts and literature. BLACK ATLANTIC, the autumn programme in the House of World Cultures from 17 September to 15 November 2004, pays them tribute in a series of concerts, dance performances, multimedia installations, readings, discussions, films and workshops, offering the chance to experience the artistic forms and languages emerging from a history of abduction, slavery and racism and, in the process of entering into a critical dialogue with these traumas, radically review the notions found in western modernity and a Euro-centric historiography.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to a Press Conference on Friday, 3 September 2004 at 11.00 a.m. in the House of World Cultures. Hans-Georg Knopp (Director of the House of World Cultures), Peter C. Seel (Black Atlantic Project Director), Johannes Odenthal (Music and Dance Programme), Shaheen Merali (Exhibition Curator) and Henrike Grohs (Youth Workshops) will be presenting the Black Atlantic project. Jean-Paul Bourelly, artistic director of the Congo Square music project, and dancer-choreographer Ismael Ivo will be on hand to discuss their specific projects and answer your questions.

After the Press Conference, we hope you will join us on the Black Berlin City Bus Tour, tracing colonial and Afro-German history in Berlin. With his dance company, Ismael Ivo will be presenting texts, music, videos and performances designed to provide a new perspective on such well-known Berlin sites as the Gendarmenmarkt and Mohrenstraße.

We look forward to seeing you.