Rwanda, Algeria – From Tradition to Modernity of Forgiveness Lecture at Metropolis Empire Sofil

As part of the Home Works 6 Platform, Metropolis Empire Sofil is hosting a lecture by Kader Attia called “Rwanda, Algeria – From Tradition to Modernity of Forgiveness”.

Following the brutal civil wars of the 1990s, in which hundreds of thousands were killed, Algeria and Rwanda, like many others, have had to engage in a process of repair. However, it is “the shame of being a Human Being”, to quote Primo Levi, which will sooner or later punctuate the History of these destructive acts.

How to rebuild, and what to rebuild from and after this annihilating chaos? In 2001, the President of the Algerian Republic initiated the “National Reconciliation” process, while in Rwanda, the courts established to adjudicate the genocide have been so overwhelmed that they have had to enlist the help of traditional courts of common law.

From tradition to modernity, the history of courts on the African continent precedes and transcends colonialism, while the link with the latter was never severed. What will be left from any process of repair, following slavery, colonialism, dictatorships and pseudorevolutions? In an attempt to make the complexity of these seemingly impossible adjudications more readable, Attia explores the continuity of the order of human things beyond the event.