Kader Attia: REPAIR. 5 ACTS
His first institutional solo show in Germany, KW Berlin, 26 May - 25 Aug. 2013. The artist interviewed by the curator; photo tour.
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Metal shelves, Teak wood sculptures (Dakar), white marble sculptures (Carrara), archival documents and photographs
The basis of this spatially arranged archive is formed by photographs depicting faces of soldiers from WWI and images of people from various African tribes. By western standards, the faces could be considered deformed but by African standards, many can actually be seen as related to the specific beauty ideals of certain clans. Each sculpture was based on the photographic images, and carved either out of teak wood by artisans in Senegal or out of Carrara marble by Italian stonemasons. Attia transforms this "lifeless" archive into a three-dimensional, living space of "repaired" faces, which make the differences in perceptions of beauty and imperfection in European and non-European cultural circles visible and tangible.
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
His first institutional solo show in Germany, KW Berlin, 26 May - 25 Aug. 2013. The artist interviewed by the curator; photo tour.