Aesthetic encounters with strange artefacts
In his exhibition and accompanying walkthrough, Walid Raad imagines and narrates several aesthetic encounters with strange artifacts, among them a Persian carpet, images of clouds, gold and silver medieval cups, and depictions of American swamps and marches. Juxtaposing his own works with objects from the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Kunsthaus Zurich collections, the artist tries to disentangle the artifacts’ strangeness, focusing on some of the histories buried in and around the artifacts. The result is a dense web of narratives that links in an intuitive and intriguing way the history of the collections with the political, economic, and social history of the modern world: from slavery and racism in North America to the Cold War and the trouble spots of our present day; from weather forecasting technologies to the realm of the undeath.
Central to the exhibition is a combined performance and tour by Walid Raad lasting around 80 minutes. Referred to as walkthroughs, these unique explorations of the Kunsthaus invite visitors to take a strange yet informative journey through the museum and to encourage them to consider some of the odd, beautiful, thought-provoking, frightful, and joyful aspects of art.
Walid Raad (born 1967 in Chbaniyeh, Lebanon, lives in Medusa, NY) works with installations, performances, videos and photographs in which he examines how historical events of psychological and physical violence affect bodies, minds, art and tradition. He has featured in numerous international exhibitions, including documenta 11 and 13, the 14th Istanbul Biennale, and the 50th Venice Biennale, and has had solo exhibitions at MoMA in New York, the TBA21 in Vienna and the Louvre in Paris.
A project by the Kunsthaus Zürich and Zürcher Theater Spektakel. The project was commissioned by TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary. Supported by the Tarbaca Indigo Foundation and the Monsol Foundation.
