Unravelling Colonial Crimes in Namibia: Forensic Architecture in Germany
About the project
For the Goethe Annual Lecture 2024 lecture, the Founder and Director of Forensic Architecture and Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, Professor Eyal Weizman MBE, was the guest speaker. He has authored numerous books, taught at universities worldwide, and in 2019 was elected a life fellow of the British Academy before receiving an MBE for his services to architecture.
His lecture introduced the work of Forensic Architecture, an interdisciplinary research agency investigating state and corporate violence globally, and the recent winner of the Right Livelihood Prize 2024. He discussed their history, principles, and projects, including collaborations with Ovaherero and Nama activists in Namibia, and cases of state violence in Germany, such as the NSU murders and the Hanau terror attack. He also reflected on the opportunities and challenges faced by their sister agency, Forensis.
The lecture concluded with a Q&A moderated by Annette Dittert (ARD) and was supported by the Friends of the Goethe-Institut London.
Project responsibilities:
Communications, budget planning, and digital content production
From June 2021 to December 2024, I worked within the Goethe-Institut London’s Communications team. As Online Editor, I managed the UK’s website, social media, editorial budgets, and digital strategies. For the flagship annual event, I oversaw the entire digital production cycle, from strategy and budget planning to post-event content publication.
In the early planning phases, I used data tools such as Webtrekk, Meta Business Suite, and Eventbrite Analytics to compile reports evaluating the performance of previous GAL marketing campaigns and digital content. These findings shaped budget allocation and digital strategy for the upcoming event. I also coordinated with partner organisations on cross-promotional initiatives and compiled audience demographic reports that informed communications and content planning.
Once event details were confirmed, I built the event webpage in our custom CMS and devised cross-platform content to promote the lecture. I led all marketing campaigns across newsletters and social media, preparing tailored content to maximise engagement and ticket sales.
My production tasks included collating event texts, speaker biographies, and visual materials; adapting them to our editorial brand guidelines; translating English-language copy into German; publishing content across digital platforms; and distributing media packs to stakeholders.
During the event, I managed community engagement on livestream chats and social media and coordinated the videographer. Post-event, I worked with the videographer to prepare transcripts, ensured content aligned with editorial standards, published the recording on YouTube, promoted it via social media, and processed invoices for advertisements, social media boosts, and commissioned content.
Through this end-to-end process, I ensured the GAL consistently reached wide and diverse audiences while maintaining the Institute’s brand and editorial standards.