News, Events

You are here: Home  Resources  Events  Lecture Series

HUMBOLDT UNIVERSITY/CBCIU HOST LECTURE SERIES

On Wednesday, 19th March, 2025, the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), in partnership with the Humboldt-Universitat Zu Berlin organised a lecture which was delivered by Susanne Gehrmann, Professor of African Literatures and Cultures, Humboldt-Universitat in Berlin, the lecture titled Cross-Connections between Nigeria and Negritude in the Decades of Decolonization: Exploring and Translating the Archives of Black Orpheus explored the cross-connections between Nigerian writers and acadenics and their Negritude colleagues in the development of literary and political discourse and also spread of decolonizing agendas in the colonial and postcolonial periods.

The lecture shed light on the Janheinz Jahn archive domiciled in the Humboldt University and some of its collections which include letters from well over 600 writers from across the world. Dr. Gehrmann noted that translations of these letters which are mostly in German are ongoing through a trilateral research linkage partnership based at Universities in Berlin, Ibadan and Bordeaux that include herself, Prof. Aderemi Raji-Oyelade and Prof. Sylvere Mbondobari.

In her lecture, she shared the idea of a forthcoming conference in Berlin later in July to foster exchange of ideas and academic collaboration to explore the founding of Black Orpheus journal and the sort of continuities and ruptures that existed with other magazines such as Orphee noir and Schwarzer Orpheus which could be traced through archival materials in Ibadan and Berlin. The hybrid event welcomed notable figures such as Chief Muraina Oyelami, Prof. Dr. Aderemi Raji-Oyelade; Prof. Remi Raji-Oyelade; Dr. Sophia-Kathrine Haruna; Dr. Toluwalope Orotoye; Mr. Joseph Aworeni, Curator of the National Commission for Museums (NCMM) and Monuments and other Staff Members of NCMM; Staff Members from the National Gallery of Arts, Osogbo; Omooba Wale Olayemi; Engr. Bolaji; Okunade; Mr. Stephen Oni, Okunade Ibrahim; Adesina Sikirulahi; Mr. Adebayo Adeyele, Basheer Afeez Adeyemi, Oyewole Taofeek; Bashir M. Omotayo and all Members of Staff of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, among others.

.