Kader Attia

Born 1970 in Dugny (Seine Saint-Denis, France

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Born 1970 in Dugny (Seine Saint-Denis, France

Lives and works in Paris, France and Berlin, Germany

Since the beginning of his practice, the Algerian French artist and curator of the 12th Berlin Biennale (2022) Kader Attia (born 1970 in Dugny, Seine Saint-Denis), has been interested in socio-cultural phenomena, especially those that arise in connection with and as a result of colonialism. His experiences of growing up in both Algeria and the Banlieues of Paris are used as a starting point to develop a dynamic practice that reflects on the aesthetics and ethics of different societies and investigates identity politics of the historical and colonial eras, and in our modern, globalized world. Kader Attia examines these phenomena in a wide variety of disciplines, such as psychoanalysis, sociology, architecture and philosophy. 

Kader Attia studied at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Appliqués „Duperré“ in Paris, France, at the Escola de Artes Applicades „La Massana“ in Barcelona, Spain and at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France. Since 2009, he has been organising and holding numerous symposiums and lectures about his deep socio-cultural research. In 2016, he founded La Colonie, a space in Paris to share ideas and to provide an agora for vivid discussion focussing on decolonialisation. He was awarded with the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2016, the Prize of the Miró Foundation, Barcelona, and the Yanghyun Art Prize, Seoul, both in 2017.  

Kader Attia’s first significant solo exhibition was held in 1996 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, his artistic career has gained international recognition with inclusion in major international exhibitions such as the 50th Venice Biennal, Venice, Italy (2003), 8th Lyon Biennial, Lyon, France (2005), and documenta (13) Kassel, Germany (2012), Kochi Muziris Biennale, Koci, India (2014), 57th Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy (2017), Manifesta 12, Palermo, Italy, 12th Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai, China (2018), 13th Gwanju Biennal, South Korea (2021).  

Notable exhibitions of the artist include solo shows at important art venues around the world such as The Hayward Gallery, London; Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona; MacVal in Vitry-sur-Seine; The Power Plant, Toronto; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; SMAK, Ghent; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/Main; Musée Cantonal des Beaux Arts de Lausanne; Beirut Art Center; Whitechapel Gallery, London; and KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. 

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