What does sugar actually taste like—besides sweet? Where does it come from, and how did it end up in Hamburg? What stories lie behind sugar?
Hamburg’s Speicherstadt was built starting in 1885—at the same time as the Berlin Conference, where the colonial powers divided Africa among themselves. Twenty thousand people were displaced to make way for its construction. It stored colonial goods from the Caribbean, primarily from Jamaica: coffee, cocoa—and sugar.
Sugar connects many things: sweetness, colonial routes, plantations, slavery, labor, violence, and consumption. Street names like Coffee Plaza still remind us of this today—without explicitly naming it.
In the workshop, we’ll follow the trail of sugar through HafenCity. We’ll observe, photograph, collect, map, and share stories. We’ll trace routes between Jamaica and Hamburg and approach sugar through our senses: as substance, sound, image, memory, and social connection—historically, physically, and artistically.
On the festival Sunday, July 26, we invite you to a collaboratively prepared Jamaican lunch, viewing food as a practice of resistance. Get ready for soul food for all tastes—from sweet and bitter to salty and sour!
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our partner, the nonprofit organization M.Bassy e.V.— a public forum for engaging with contemporary perspectives from Africa and the diaspora—for their support.
www.m-bassy.org
Ill Will er/ihm
Ill Will (he/him) is an artist, entrepreneur, and cultural innovator at the intersection of music, food, community, and urban culture. Shaped by hip-hop, soul food culture, and diasporic influences from Ghana, Jamaica, the U.S., and Germany, he develops unique formats that bring together artistic expression, social reality, and collective experience.
At the heart of his work lie identity, upward mobility, creativity, street economy, and the power of community. Whether through music, storytelling, curated spaces, or food concepts—Ill Will creates contexts that bring people together, convey emotions, and open new avenues for cultural participation.
His approach is raw, direct, and visionary all at once: art not as an end in itself, but as a tool for connection, movement, and sustainable impact. Between mixtape hustle, branding, and cultural practice, Ill Will develops a distinctive signature style where enjoyment, expression, and community converge.
Dr. Christopher Ashley Burkett er/ihm
Dr. Christopher Ashley Burkett (he/him) recently held a tenure-line Assistant Professor position within the School of Social Work at California State University, Long Beach. He obtained a BA in Psychology from Rutgers College, received his MSW from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, and earned a Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Research from the School of Social Work at Portland State University. Dr. Burkett has 25 years of experience teaching within several academic departments (e.g. psychology, social work, family studies, etc.) across 9 universities in the United States of America. His research agenda is centered on using photo-based qualitative methods of inquiry to expose the ecological, economic, and socio-cultural factors that determine the mental health (help-seeking) experiences (MHHSE) of under-resourced pre-adolescent Black children. Dr. Burkett has also served a diverse population of minoritized kids and their families as an after-school educator, mentor, tutor, and coach for more than two decades.