Winner of the 2nd Art Award: Kader Attia

Kader Attia, an internationally known artist who lives in Algiers and Berlin, received the 2nd Ruth Baumgarte Art Award. Being valued at EUR 20,000, the Art Award is one of the most highly renumerated art awards in Germany. The ceremony took place on Saturday, 4th June 2016, at the Berlinische Galerie in Berlin-Kreuzberg. More than 200 guests from the worlds of culture, society and politics attended – among them prominent figures such as the French ambassador Etienne Philippe, actress Hannelore Hoger and Chris Arend.

Press articles

© Finnish National Gallery/Pirje Mykkänen

Kader Attia, born in Paris in 1970 as the child of Algerian parents, grew up in France and Algeria. He received his artistic education between 1991 and 1998 at renowned art academies in Paris and Barcelona. Attia spent the years 1995 to 1998 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.

Attia‘s North African and Western European roots form the starting point of his political art, which particularly deals with the effects of colonialism on non-Western cultures. The aspect of “reparation” is a central motif of his work, which is characterised by intense poetic-philosophical observations. For Attia, “reparation” principally reflects destruction, meaning pain, respectively, which must be overcome. Depending on the way it is implemented – as traceless restoration or visibly remaining turning point – it furthermore serves as an expression of a specific cultural affiliation.

Since the late 1990s, the artist has attracted attention to himself and his work through numerous international exhibitions. His participations in the Venice Biennale in 2011 and the documenta 13 in 2012 resulted, at the latest, in wide international recognition. His works are represented at the Tate Modern, London, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, as well as the permanent collection of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

The artist received the Prix Marcel Duchamp in 2016; his exhibition at Museum for Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/Main, was selected as “Exhibition of the Year 2016” by German AICA.

Exhibitions and Prizes since the Awarding in 2016

Selected Solo Shows

Kader Attia, Gropius-Bau, Berlin (upcoming)

Kader Attia, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland, (upcoming, 28 May – 6 September 2020)

The Body´s Legacies. The Post-Colonial Body, Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin, 21 February – 17 April 2019

The Museum of Emotion, The Hayward Gallery, London, UK, 13 February – 6 May 2019

Roots Also Grow in Concrete, Culturgest Fundacao Caixa Geral de Depòsitos, Lisbon, Portugal, 20 October 2018 – 13 January 2019

Kader Attia. Scars Remind Us That Our Past Is Real, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain, 15 June – 30 September 2018

Les racines poussent aussi dans le béton, MAC VAL, Musée d´art contemporain de Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France, 13 April – 16 September 2018

The Field of Emotion, The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada, 27 January – 13 May 2018

Kader Attia. Reason´s Oxymorons, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, US, 5 January – 18 March 2018

Kader Attia. Architektur der Erinnerung, Museum Ludwig, Koblenz, Germany, 15 November 2017 – 21 January 2018

Repairing The Invisible, SMAK, Gent, Belgium, 31 March – 1 October 2017

Kader Attia, MCA Sydney, Australia, 13 April – 30 July 2017

Reflecting Memory, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, US, 21 January – 16 April 2017

Prix Marcel Duchamp, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, 12 October 2016 – 29 January 2017

Sacrifice and Harmony, MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 April – 14 August 2016

 

Art Awards

Premio Juan Miró, 2017, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

Yanghyun Art Prize, 2017, The Yanghyun Foundation, Seoul, South Korea

Prix Marcel Duchamp, 2016, Musée d´art Moderne - Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Impressions of the award ceremony at the Berlinische Galerie

Photo: Frank Nürnberger, Berlin