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The Arts Intel Report

Kader Attia: Remembering the Future

Sept 21 – Nov 15, 2020
Heimplatz 1, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland

“Our contemporary world is haunted by wounds from the past,” writes the French-Algerian artist Kader Attia in The Field of Emotion, a statement from 2018. “The traumas resulting from the worst moments in history such as wars, famines, and genocides have left lasting material and immaterial scars which, like a phantom limb of an amputated part of the body, are still there.” To address these wounds, Attia has put forth a theory of repair, which he has explored in both his writing and his art. Building off the symbiotic relationships found in natural ecosystems, Attia argues that a process of repair requires “recuperation and re-appropriation.” In a multimedia exhibition that blends sculpture, photography, and video, Attia offers a pathway to parity through visual explorations of his political philosophies, which are presented alongside the installations. —C.J.F.