The Youth of the World accuses Imperialism
performative apéritifcommissioned by Spreepark Art Space 2025
The Youth of the World Accuses Imperialism is a dinner performance based on the 10th World Festival of Youth, which took place in Berlin in 1973. Originating from in-depth research on the tribunal “The Youth of the World Accuses Imperialism,” which took place at Humboldt University, the performance brings together former organizers and guests of the 10th Festival and a general audience to engage in a discussion hosted by three experts.
At the time, the tribunal addressed highly relevant political issues of the day: the war in Vietnam, racism in the USA and the struggle for peace and independence of the Arab peoples. The focus of the seminars and colloquia, which were held under the heading of the anti-imperialist struggle, was determined in intensive preparation by the International Federation of the World Youth Festival. Characterised by socialist and politically charged language, the seminars provided a platform for speakers from the Global South, representatives of oppressed groups and liberation movements, and young people – and offered participants a valuable opportunity for international exchange. Angela Davis opened the tribunal as chairwoman.
Despite this extremely open and tolerant atmosphere during the World Festival, which gave an idea of the freedoms that the SED government granted visitors, it was at the same time a highly contradictory event. Under the code name Aktion Banner, the Stasi mobilised over 4,000 employees. In preparation for the mass events, young people were sent to youth work camps and individuals considered conspicuous were detained. Despite the Stasi's strong presence, the sheer size of the thousands of participants made it virtually impossible to continuously monitor or control the conversations and activities of the young people from the GDR and the international guests. At the Politburo level, the festival was used during the preparations and behind the scenes as a diplomatic playing field for international issues, including the GDR's admission to the United Nations in September 1973.
At the time, 26.000 international guests travelled to (East-)Berlin. In preparation of the performance Franziska Pierwoss located and interviewed former delegates and guests of the festival in and outside Germany and listened to extensive hours of audio recordings.
In this complex ambivalence, a conversation with former coordinating secretary Dominique Vidal and audio recordings of the historical speeches of the tribunal's speakers serve as a starting point for a discussion of current political contexts and the relevance of concepts such as international solidarity and anti-imperialist movements.
Special guests:
Dominique Vidal (coordinating secretary of the festival)
Carl Hofmeister (festival guest from West-Berlin)
Elke Bitterhof (moderator at PLX music club / Volksbühne)
Franziska Wiethold (representative of the West German Delegation)
Reinhold Otto (festival participant as FDJ member)
Moderators:
Lama El Khatib
Diana Wesser
Research: Karam Ghossein
Curator: Sandra Teitge
Sound editing: Christian Blumberg
Light: Squat Deluxe
Catering: Fleischerei Niemann
Photography: Frank Sperling
Slideshow:
Performative Apéritif on Dec 6th 2025 photography by Frank Sperling
Research documents by Dominique Vidal and Zeitbild