Marny Garcia Mommertz

What would Fasia say? (2024)

Excerpt of “What would Fasia say?” 2024, Marny Garcia Mommertz.
Contains:
1. Tina Campt, Interview with Fasia Jansen in Oberhausen, 1992.
2. "Cerro, La Habana" (2022), Clémence Garcia-Lindenmeyer.
3. Drwaing by Fasia Jansen in KZ Neuengamme.Courtesy: Fritz-Hüser Institut.
4. Sound: Femi Oriogun-Williams.

"What would Fasia say?" (WT) is a 21-minute montage film that weaves together public and archival material to reimagine Fasia Jansen, a Black German Holocaust survivor, singer and activist, in today’s Cuban society and German politics. The film’s main narration comes from a 1992 interview with Jansen, conducted by Tina Campt. Through visuals depicting Jansen in Afro-Cuban settings and in the context of Germany’s evolving political climate—marked by the rise of the far-right AfD and migration challenges—the film explores how her legacy continues to resonate across a diasporic network.

Currently exhibited at the LWL Museum in Dortmund, this work was funded by the NRW Exhibition Fund from the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Marny Garcia Mommertz is a writer and cultural producer focused on Afrodiasporic archives, particularly exploring connections between Germany and Cuba. Since 2020, she has been researching the legacy of Fasia Jansen, a Black German Holocaust survivor, activist, and singer, creating essays, video works, and photo collages. In 2022, she became Managing Editor of C& América Latina Magazine. Marny consults art institutions, advising on exhibition contextualization, archival methods, and curatorial approaches.

At the Goethe-Institut Salvador Bahia, she gained significant experience as a cultural producer, facilitating international artist residencies. As a curatorial assistant at HMKV (Hartware MedienKunstVerein), she contributed to exhibitions and projects exploring digital culture and contemporary art. From 2022-2023 she was a recipient of the PACT Fellowship awarded by PACT Zollverein. Marny navigates her work across multiple linguistic and cultural contexts, in German, English, Spanish, BR Portuguese and French.

She holds an M.A. in Museum Studies from the University of Amsterdam and currently pursues an M.A. in Curatorial Practice at the University of Bergen.