Kader Attia (*1970 in Dugny, France) has spent many years exploring the principle of ‘repair’, which he views as a constant in both nature and the history of humanity. At the Berlinische Galerie, Attia presents a conversation between two large installations: “J’Accuse” (2016) and “The Object‘s Interlacing” (2020).
“J’Accuse” (2016) consists of seventeen wooden busts, eight sculptures and an eleven-minute excerpt from an anti-war film of the same name by French director Abel Gance (1889–1981). The busts portray ‘gueules cassées’ (broken faces), First World War soldiers who had suffered severe facial disfigurement. Here Attia continues to explore his concept of “repair”, which has been at the centre of his art for many years. In the video of “The Object‘s Interlacing”, Kader Attia builds a dialogue with various experts about the dabte on the topic of restitution of cultural assets violently looted during the colonial era. Together they construct an understanding of restitution as a practice of repair with far broader implications than simply repatriating objects looted from their place of origin.
These two pieces by Attia are complemented by selected collages made by Hannah Höch for her iconic series “From an Ethnographic Museum” (1924- 1934); some of these works are from the Berlinische Galerie’s own collection. In them, Höch combines magazine reproductions of non-European artworks with images of parts of the bodies or faces of predominantly white women from the 1920s. She thus creates an aesthetic of fragmentation and repair, which inspired Kader Attia to integrate her works into his solo exhibition.
Kader Attia grew up in France and Algeria. He rose to international fame not least with his contributions to the Biennale di Venezia in 2003/2017 and dOCUMENTA (13) in 2012. In 2022 he curated the 12th Berlin Biennale.
- All the explanatory exhibition texts are available in German and English.
- There is no information in Simple German.
- There is no information in German Sign Language.
- Some outreach events are held in or with German Sign Language.
- The exhibition features video works with sound. It can be heard in all sections of the exhibition.
- Assistive listening is not supported by induction systems or neck loops.
- The video works are in spoken French and German with subtitles in English and German.
- There is step-free access to the exhibition.
- Most of the exhibits and explanatory texts can be seen and read from a seated position.
- Sculptures are placed close together all over the room.
- There are a few seatings. Wheelchairs and folding stools can be borrowed free of charge from the cloakroom.
- The third section of the room is partitioned by a curtain. Arrows on the floor indicate access to this section.
- To protect the works in the exhibition limited use is made of bright illumination. Most of the exhibition texts are designed with strong contrast.
- All the panel texts are available as a large-print brochure that you will find at the entrance to the exhibition.
- The exhibition has a floor guidance system to point the way through a part of the exhibition.
- There are no touch models.
Do you have any other questions about accessibility? Andreas Krüger, officer accessibility and inclusion, will be happy to answer them via e-mail krueger@berlinischegalerie.de or via phone +49 (0)30-789 02-832.
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