The planetary crises and the urgent question of ‘(un)safe spaces’ bear a profoundly (post-)colonial imprint. Climate emergency, the breathtakingly rapid loss of biodiversity, (civil) wars and global migration movements – these are inextricably linked to colonialism as a system of power, domination and exploitation. As the Global South is suffering massively from the effects of the environmental sins of the consumer societies of the Global North, the concept of the Anthropocene is also being criticised from a postcolonial perspective. One example: It is a profoundly colonial logic to say that the climate crisis has been caused by ‘humanity’. In fact, it is the residents of particular countries such as China, the USA and India who leave the largest ecological footprint. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the G20 countries caused 83 % of global CO2 emissions in 2023. South Africa was responsible for 1.1 % of global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industry in 2023, while the countries of Africa were responsible for a total of 3.8 %. Scholars have therefore introduced alternative terms, such as the Capitalocene (Jason W. Moore). A term that emphasises that human action is always influenced by political and economic power relations and inequalities against the backdrop of global capitalism.
The fourth station of the trail through the exhibition is the thematic area of postcolonial habitats. Here, the artists reflect on the human, economic, political and ecological dimensions of the colonial age and how these continue to shape our present. The behaviour patterns anchored in power politics are at their most assertive when vested interests seek to secure and exploit raw materials.