Savvy Contemporary

Reading the Berlin Conference’s Project of Extraction of Soil and Soul

13 Nov 2025 – 11 Jan 2026

As a contribution towards undoing the effects of the Berlin Conference, we read three astrological charts, in order to identify its weak spots, as well as points of interventions that may be available to us today. 

First, there is the Natal chart, which shows the position of the planets in the sky, as seen from Berlin, when the conference first gathered on November 15, 1884. While it displays the infinite possibilities of that moment, it also gives neat indications for the kind of project that the conference inaugurated.

Second, there is the Solar Return chart, which shows the position of the planets on the day of the conference’s “birthday” this year, on Nov 15, 2025. It describes how the project is currently unfolding, and when compared with the Berlin Conference natal chart, it gives clues to how to undermine its project.  

Finally, third, there is the synastry chart, which is a comparison of the Natal Chart and the Solar Return Chart. There we find the project’s current “weak spots” and highlights 3 astrological configurations that serve as points of interventions. For each one, we propose an action or a practice to undo or halt the effects of the Berlin Conference. 

Find the recording and text of our reading HERE.

The installation was part of the group exhibition DESACTA.: Counter-spells to unravel 140 years of the Berlin Conference conceived by Filipa César and curated by Billy Fowo, Hajra Haider Karrar, Anna Jäger, Mû Mbana.