Save the Date

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

We have been collaborating and exchanging ideas on numerous occasions over the past few years. We would therefore like to invite you cordially to the community kick-off of "Rumble in the Archive. Interventions on Postcolonial Zurich" on Friday, December 5, 2025, at 6:00 pm.

What role did Zurich's ethnographic collection play in colonial trade? (How) Did the Swiss consul perceive the anti-colonial Philippine resistance? How can the decolonial resistance of Maroons and Quilombolas inspire local struggles in Zurich—and vice versa? What might an Afropean guild look like—or an Ethnographic museum after complete restitution? How can we learn from the past for today's anti-racist and decolonial changes—or, conversely, redefine the past of Zurich and Switzerland in the present?

"Rumble in the Archive" is a polyphonic space for archiving, learning, and meeting created by residents from the arts, research and civil society together with co-curator Rohit Jain and the team of the Ethnographic Museum UZH. The museum’s aim is to open itself up sustainably and institutionally to diasporic perspectives from and on Zurich. Based on fragments, a multi-voiced, growing, and changing archive on the colonial history and postcolonial present of Zurich—and in particular on strategies of resistance, critique and solidarity—will be emerging between December 2025 and September 2026. Installations, workshops, screenings, discussions, performances, and social exchange will challenge the institutional, historical, and cultural norms of postcolonial Zurich and the museum—and new institutional realities and visions will emerge.  

On 5 of December 2025, starting at 6 pm, we will celebrate the kick-off of "Rumble in the Archive" with a joyful community evening. After a keynote speech by a surprise guest, the first three Rumble residents will introduce themselves with their own contributions: architect Salim Umar, the studiyo filipino platform, and the Alkebulan association. After the presentations, there will be drinks and snacks, and you will get a first glimpse into the Rumble archive. Nongoma Ndlovu and Fabio Meier aka Siselabonga will provide the sounds and good vibes!

We are reaching out to you because you have contributed to shaping and influencing the debates and realities of a postcolonial Zurich for years. We would be delighted to have you join us at "Rumble in the Archive" to rumble, discuss, argue, reflect, laugh, and dance. With curiosity and scepticism, with anger and humour, with criticism and honesty, with pragmatism and belief in utopias!

With solidarity,

Rohit Jain (project co-curator)
Alexis Malefakis (co-curator Ethnographic Museum UZH)
Alice Hertzog (director Ethnographic Museum UZH)
Salim Umar (resident)
studiyo filipino (residents)
Alkebulan association (residents)

P.S. This newsletter will keep you informed about the activities of "Rumble in the Archive". If you would like to unsubscribe, please do so via the form  on the website.