“On Silence” exhibition at QF highlights environmental and human rights issues

Global warming is among the most important issues in the world today, and art could play an important role in raising awareness about multiples crises, including sustainability and climate change, according to Abdullah Karroum, former director of Qatar Foundation’s Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.

Karroum, also the Special Curatorial Consultant to the Acting Executive Vice President for Museums, Collections, and Heritage Protection, at Mathaf, says: “Art looks at all the crises the world is going through, including climate change and human rights, and often the artist succeeds in drawing attention to a particular issue. But at the same time many of the other crises and dilemmas, such as gender equality and post-colonial ‘repair’, remain underrepresented. This point is important in the exhibition ‘On Silence’ by the artist Kader Attia.”

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art is hosting the exhibition “Kader Attia: On Silence” from November 8, 2021, until March 31, 2022. The exhibition is dedicated to the artist’s work over the past two decades, including two new artworks, commissioned by the Museum: “The Object’s Interlacing” (2020) – a film and series of replicas of African sculptures that deal with the complex debate over the repatriation of objects seized from Africa during the colonial era.

While the other “On Silence” (2021) is an installation that covers an entire exhibition space, and it consists of over a hundred prosthetics – mostly hands and legs – indicating to medical tools used to improve the lives of those who have lost their limbs in conflict zones.

Karroum emphasized the exhibition supports the concept of sustainability through artworks related to imperial colonialism. “Today we are at an important stage in the history of human development, and in my opinion, all the crucial issues of human civilization must be raised. This is why we decided to name the exhibition ‘On Silence’ – in the sense of moving away from silence when it comes addressing crucial issues.”

He added: “The idea of sustainability is linked to awareness and understanding that our actions have consequences affecting everything – from nature to the lives of the people around us.”

The message that the artist Kader Attia wishes to convey through the exhibition, Karroum said, is to highlight the complexities left by colonialism on individuals in all societies, including those that led colonial campaigns and its victims.

Karroum said his artworks have multiple interpretations according to the viewers’ backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences. But when the visitors decide to see these artworks by taking the initiative of visiting a museum, they will be ready to link the artworks with the issues that the artworks are trying to convey.

The colonial and post-war periods occupy a large part of the exhibition, and Karroum indicated that the impact of wars and colonialism cannot go away as the losses can’t be replaced, and therefore, the artist talks about the idea of “compensation” or “repair” in proposing ways to build on a history that has left lasting traumas on humanity.