C& Center of Unfinished Business: A Traveling Reading Room on Colonialism

The C& Center of Unfinished Business is a reading room launched in 2017 that assembles an extraordinary and sometimes disorienting selection of books related to colonialism, from German colonization to Congolese fashion to 21st-century financial markets. The project has traveled to institutions in Cincinnati, Hong Kong, Berlin, Vienna, Toulouse, Athens, Kassel, and New York. It fosters critical questioning of persistent colonial power structures, accessibility, and historical consciousness, inviting host institutions to examine their own weaknesses. The collection includes works from C&'s own library as well as the host institution's, and always seeks to involve a local grassroots organization. The center does not aim to be a comprehensive library on colonialism, as colonialism is an unfinished business persisting in various forms. Partner institutions include ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) in Berlin, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Les Abattoirs – Musée in Toulouse, Para Site in Hong Kong, Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, and Vera List Center in New York. The reading room exists in multiple formats and is available for collaboration.