Six projects have been retained for the 2020 The Burden of Memory Fund-a project which seeks to rewrite the stories of former German colonies in Africa.

The call for artistic and co-production projects was launched in May by the Goethe Institute, with the jury unveiling the selected candidates at the weekend.

Among the six co-productions selected, Cameroonians feature in at least four projects which will not get funding.

The first project retained is “Hidden”- a collaboration between Cameroonian stage performer Christian Etongo and Namibia’s Trixie Munyama who is a dancer, choreographer and teacher.

The two artistes met in Yaounde in November 2019 during activities to mark 7the German Cultural week which brought together six African countries- Togo, Namibia, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Cameroon.

“Hidden” was written by the Namibian and puts to stage in the form of music, theatre and stage performances.

The next project retained is led by Koffi Mawoutour (Togo)  and three Cameroonians;  Alima Mbarga),  Mengue Rose and Mbogo Marcelline. Their project, “Racontons la colonisation pour construire le présent et le futur , » and is presented in the form of music and story-telling.

The third project titled “Les masques tombent”, takes the form of dance and visual art and is headed  by Tejeutsa Zobel Raoul aka Zora Snake (Cameroon) and  Clay Apenouvon (Togo).

Two other Cameroonians, Etienne Song and Edit Flore partner with Togolese duo Jacques Do Kokou and Ayite and  Philip Kojo Metz (Germany) to produce “Graines de reconciliation” which is a visual art which reconciles former German colonies with their past

“Everyday Germannes”, a theatre that recounts German legacy on the continent was also retained and is presented by Steven Mfuko (Tanzania) and Ishabuja Films (Burundi) while the sixth project “More about Richard Kandt” takes the form of music and stage performance.

According to the Goethe Institute, organizer of this project, it is aimed at creating a network of artists in the former German colonies to brainstorm on their colonial past through culture.