Museum of Black Futures: Horror aan de Rijn (2026)

The past is not gone. It moves with us. Through dreams, through our bodies, and through the landscape along the Rhine. The Museum of Black Futures does not turn away from that presence. We invite it in.

For one night, Theater aan de Rijn becomes a gathering place where performance, film, music and conversation come together. A space where we offer art to the past, and listen for what it still asks of us.

With Horror aan de Rijn, we honour the Afro-German children who, in the early twentieth century, became targets of racist propaganda in the Rhineland, just across the Dutch border. Their innocent existence was twisted into an image of fear. Their presence was weaponised by nationalist forces to stir up hatred. What followed was exclusion, violence and persecution.

We remember these children not only for what was done to them, but for who they were: children with dreams, games, tenderness and futures. The Museum of Black Futures honours their lives and reclaims the words that were once used to humiliate them.

The title refers to the racist propaganda through which Afro-German children and families in the Rhineland were stigmatised after the First World War. Under terms such as Schwarze Schmach am Rhein and later Horror am Rhein, Black presence was deliberately framed as a threat. These images and narratives contributed to exclusion, persecution and violence under the Nazi regime.

With this programme, The Museum of Black Futures returns to this history not only to remember it, but to question it, disturb it and break it open.

The performers and artists of the Museum of Black Futures honour the lives of these children and reclaim the language once meant to degrade them. Their innocent presence was turned into a nightmare by others. But on this night, Black Horror becomes something else entirely: a symbol of resilience, inspiration and hope.

About Museum of Black Futures, Richard Kofi says:

“For our museum, storytelling is the foundation, and archives are where our imagination begins. Participating artist Rebecca Pokua Korang encountered the stories of these children while we were searching for ancestors in whom we could recognise ourselves. Our collaboration with Theater aan de Rijn allows us to approach their stories with creativity, care and joy.”

The programme brings together an international group of artists, performers and musicians, each offering a progressive vision of how past, present and future can speak to one another. London-based musician afromerm will collaborate with Amsterdam composer Phantom Wizard. There will be contributions by the mysterious Pink Zombie and Berlin-based artist Rebecca Pokua Korang. Theatre maker Serah Doku Meyboom and artist Femi Dawkins will offer words and live painting. Grenada-born artist and filmmaker Billy Gérard Frank will guide the evening with context and reflection.