Peoples Tales: Rhine-Main Archipelago

Culture plays a central role in promoting democratic values through artistic and social practice. What is its role and participation within local democratic structures?

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, millions of people from the Eastern Bloc arrived in Germany, often through programs for Jewish quota refugees or late repatriates. Their qualifications were frequently not recognized, and due to their Russian language, they were broadly labeled as “Russians,” leading to stigmatization.

Since 2020, the term “PostOst” has emerged to make these differentiated identities visible. People's Tales. Rhine-Main Archipelago addresses colonial structures in Hesse and the experiences of late repatriates from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. The project aims to develop a deeper understanding of groups who have migrated to Germany since the 1990s—including those arriving since 2022—and to make their formative presence visible.

Three participatory workshops form the heart of the research, creating safe spaces for diasporic communities to share their perspectives. Two podcast episodes expand the dialogue digitally and explore cultural, social, and historical contexts in depth. The mobile reading space Slow Shelfs serves as a public meeting place for lingering, reading, and exchange. Layers and Realms presents results from the workshops and visualizes collective memories as well as critical reflections on colonial continuities in Hesse.

The collective de_colonialanguage, Ani Menua, Elena Malzew and Irina Denkmann combine expertise from art, activism and research to form PostOst. They work transculturally with diasporic communities and develop formats between public space, mediation and artistic practice.