Kader Attia
Kader Attia. Photo: Nicole Tanzini di Bella.
Lives and works in Berlin and Paris
Kader Attia (b. 1970, France) grew up in Paris and Algeria. Preceding his studies at the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués Duperré and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and at Escola Massana, Centre d’Art i Disseny in Barcelona, he spent several years in Congo and South America.
The experience with these different cultures, the histories of which over centuries have been characterised by rich trading traditions, colonialism and multi-ethnic societies, has fostered Kader Attia’s intercultural and interdisciplinary approach of research. For many years, he has been exploring the perspective that societies have on their history, especially as regards experiences of deprivation and suppression, violence and loss, and how this affects the evolving of nations and individuals — each of them being connected to collective memory.
His socio-cultural research has led Kader Attia to the notion of Repair, a concept he has been developing philosophically in his writings and symbolically in his oeuvre as a visual artist. With the principle of Repair being a constant in nature — thus also in humanity —, any system, social institution or cultural tradition can be considered as an infinite process of Repair, which is closely linked to loss and wounds, to recuperation and re-appropriation. Repair reaches far beyond the subject and connects the individual to gender, philosophy, science, and architecture, and also involves it in evolutionary processes in nature, culture, myth and history.
In 2016, Kader Attia founded La Colonie, a space in Paris to share ideas and to provide an agora for vivid discussion. Focussing on decolonialisation not only of peoples but also of knowledge, attitudes and practices, it aspires to de-compartmentalise knowledge by a trans-cultural, trans-disciplinary and trans-generational approach. Driven by the urgency of social and cultural reparations, it aims to reunite which has been shattered, or drift apart.
Solo exhibitions of Attia’s work include Descente au Paradis, MOCO, Montpellier (2024); Kader Attia, J’Accuse, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin (2024); On Silence, Mathaf, Doha (2021); Fragments of Repair, BAK – basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, The Netherlands (2021); The Valley of Dreams, Regen Projects, Los Angeles (2020); Remembering the Future, Kunsthaus Zürich (2020); Irreparáveis Reparos, Sesc Pompeia São Paulo (2020); The Museum of Emotion, Hayward Gallery, London; (2019) Sacrifice and Harmony, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main (2016); The Injuries Are Here, Musée Cantonal des Beaux Arts, Lausanne (2015); Culture, Another Nature Repaired, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp (2014); Contre Nature, Beirut Art Center (2014); Continuum of Repair: The Light of Jacob’s Ladder, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2013); Repair. 5 Acts, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2013) and Construire, Déconstruire, Reconstruire: Le Corps Utopique, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2012). His work has also been featured in group exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany (2021); Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain (2021); 13th Gwangju Biennial (2020); Shanghai Ming Contemporary Art Museum (2020); , Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston (2019); Kunstmuseum Bonn (2019); The Met Breuer, New York (2018); Sharjah Biennial 13 (2017); Leopold Museum, Vienna (2016); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2016); Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (2014); dOCUMENTA 13, Kassel, Germany (2012); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2012); Tate Modern, London (2011) and Manarat Al Sadiyyat, Abu Dhabi (2009).
His work is part of the collections of Sharjah Art Foundation; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; Tate Gallery, London; Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, among others.
He also served as interlocutor for the Sharjah Biennial 13 off-site project Vive l’Indépendence de l’Eau, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar (2017).
Attia was awarded the Joan Miró Prize (2017), the Yanghyun Prize (2017), the Prix Marcel Duchamp (2016), Cairo Biennale Prize (2009) and the Abraaj Capital Art Prize (2009). He was also curator of the 12th Berlin Biennale (2022).
