in stein und aus holz – in stone made out of wood

Installation by Margarita Wenzel
Location: Ioakimion Girls High School
15.11.2024 – 30.11.2024
In her artistic practice, Margarita Wenzel delves into the subjectivity of knowledge, the ruptures present in historical narratives, and the intricate nature of human perception. Her approach isn’t confined to a particular medium but is committed to exploratory research.
Her artistic research project in stone and made of wood is dedicated to the investigation of hidden historical narratives around a prisoner of war camp near Berlin, the so called Halbmondlager (Crescent-Camp).
For Mahalla Memento she will do an installation in the historical venue connected to a historical blind spot in German memory culture.
The Crescent-Camp, which was set up during the First World War in agreement with the Ottoman Empire, was intended to mobilize Muslim soldiers from various regions such as Russia, the Middle East, North Africa and India for the jihad against their “colonial masters” (Britain and France).
The first mosque on German soil was built for this purpose in 1915. A Camp-Pamphlet-Paper was distributed to the prisoners mobilizing them against the “infidels”, the British, French, and Russians.

Camp Newspaper “Holy War”
Parallel to this mobilization attempts, the prisoners had to sing and recite poems that were recorded for research purposes and later served the racial ideology of the Nazi regime.
The Arab Stone in Wünsdorf, was dedicated to the Muslim prisoners of war who died during World War I and were interned in the Crescent Camp. The memorial stone was erected in 1916 and bears both an Arabic and a German inscription.
“God is the only God, and Mohammed is his prophet”, the central tenet of Islam, in German and Arabic:
“Es gibt keinen Gott ausser Gott und Mohammed ist Gottes Prophet”
“ِهَّٰللٱ ُلوُسَر ٌدَّمَحُم ُهَّٰللٱ اَّلِإ َهَٰلِإ اَل”.
“The stone’s title is probably derived from this inscription, but it also implies a racist perspective on the prisoners” artist Margarita Wenzel underlines. The title In stein und aus holz refers both to the wooden construction of the mosque in the camp and to the material of the shellac records on which the prisoners’ voices were recorded, 80% of which were made of ground stone.
After the First World War, the site of Crescent-Camp was partly used as a efugee accommodation. Today, the DRK refugee aid center of the state of Brandenburg is located nearby.
In this sense, the site remains linked to the ambivalent attitude towards the Middle East and Islam in German politics and society. The lack of knowledge about the camp, the German jihad and its effects makes a comprehensive decolonization of the site difficult. This is reflected in the colonial-influenced language on the information boards, among other things. The main aim of the project is therefore to reach a broader public.
Memento
Memento as a term for artistic discourse shall serve to perceive absences and offer ways to inhale and exhale memory to avoid the acceptance of neglect. Mahalla Memento aims to create a new vision of tomorrow by asking artists to work on the everyday life of the overlooked.
The artists are free to use any artistic form or style. Innovative interpretations of the leitmotif are appreciated.
The Memento Festival is supported by