logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2022
36m 25s

Monumental Diplomacy

ROMAN MARS
About this episode

In downtown Windhoek, Namibia -- at the intersection of Fidel Castro Street and Robert Mugabe Avenue -- there's an imposing gold building with an affectionate nickname: the Coffee Maker. This notable structure was built to commemorate Namibia’s fight for independence from apartheid South Africa, which it achieved in 1990. And for many of the visitors, the museum feels like a huge achievement. But for a museum that commemorates throwing off the chains of colonialism and forging a new era of self-determination, it has one pretty strange feature. It wasn't designed by a Namibian architect. It wasn't even designed by an African architect. It was built by North Korea's state-run design studio, which has long been a prolific maker of statues around the world. North Korea has left a distinct visual stamp across Africa in particular, with museums and monuments erected in more than a dozen African countries since the 1970s.

Monumental Diplomacy

Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and get exclusive access to bonus episodes. 
Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

Up next
Aug 26
Ambassador Bridge
A billionaire family’s private bridge empire shaped Detroit for decades, sparking battles over power, neighborhoods, and the future of an international crossing.Ambassador Bridge Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week e ... Show More
40m 13s
Aug 19
All About That Bass
Vintage music barely had any bass. Today’s hits are all about the low end. What changed? An episode this week from our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz, featuring hip hop legend DJ Jazzy Jeff and Roland's Paul McCabe.All About That Bass Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen t ... Show More
25m 51s
Aug 12
Sister Aimee and the Birth of the Megachurch
Aimee Semple McPherson built America’s first megachurch, blended showbiz with salvation, and vanished in a scandal that captivated the nation.Sister Aimee and the Birth of the Megachurch Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whol ... Show More
36m 3s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2024
Ep. 66 - Bringing Monuments Home (from PRX's Monumental)
In this special episode of The Lonely Palette, I’m sharing the episode I made for the PRX limited-run podcast series "Monumental," which interrogates the state of monuments across the greater U.S. and what their future says about where we are now and where we’re going. This was t ... Show More
1 h
Aug 2020
Bremen’s Elephant Statue
Amid the ongoing debate about how to handle historical monuments which commemorate colonialism and slavery, Witness History hears the story of a giant statue of an elephant in the German city of Bremen.The port city had played a significant role in Germany's colonial past, and af ... Show More
10m 23s
Dec 2022
Museo de Ipiranga (Brasil)
La primera parada en Brasil de nuestro viaje por los Museos de América Latina. Llegamos a Sao Paulo y de allí al Museo Ipiranga, un monumental edificio que conmemora la independencia del país continente. Pero este museo es mucho más que esto. Reinaugurado en septiembre de 2022 es ... Show More
58m 9s
Feb 2024
Short Stuff: Benin Bronzes
One of the world’s cultural treasure troves were created in West Africa. But for over a century they’ve been held in museums outside of Africa. In fact, an estimated 95 percent of Africa’s cultural heritage is kept in museums overseas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor ... Show More
14m 38s
Jan 2023
Quelle place pour les musées dans la géopolitique mondiale?
En 1870, au moment de la Révolution industrielle, il existait un millier de musées. Aujourd’hui, il y en aurait plus de 80.000, dont 35.000 aux USA, environ 30.000 en Europe occidentale et près de 5.000 entre la Chine et le Japon. Les 7/8è des musées qui existent aujourd’hui ont ... Show More
50 m
Mar 2022
123. A Fieldguide to Sub-Saharan African Architecture with Adil Dalbai and Livingstone Mukasa
How does the idea of a “Nation” come through in architectural language? Is there such a thing as a Nigerian architecture, for example? Are there national identifications visible in architectural makeup? On the other hand, how does architecture transcend borders? What is the statu ... Show More
1h 1m
Mar 2023
Monsoon Mood
We think of paintings as art, but can they also be a source of data? 300 years ago, a young prince inherited the throne in Udaipur, India, and brought with him some newfangled ideas about art. His court artists created massive paintings that flew in the face of convention, docume ... Show More
29m 18s
Aug 2022
Jacques Herzog
“As a young architect, I hated photographs where you saw people. And now I hate photographs where you don’t see people,” Jacques Herzog says. Throughout the last three decades, Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have designed some of today’s best-known buildings and museums, including L ... Show More
32m 20s