ARBEIT AM GEDÄCHTNIS – TRANSFORMING ARCHIVES, AKADEMIE DER KÜNSTE, BERLIN, 2021
How and what a society remembers has becomes a key question at a time when self-perceptions are being renegotiated and mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion are being questioned. This shows in a new presence of the archive in contemporary art. The artistic memory work positions itself against current examples of historical oblivion and a disturbing surge of revisionism through the strengthening of nationalistic, racist and anti- Semitic historical narratives. At the same time, it argues in favour of long-overdue strategies for decolonising and diversifying bodies of knowledge and ranges of experience. The memory of humanity, analogous to the memory of nature itself, becomes a question that is crucial for survival. Cultural diversity as a resource of social and sustainable life has become a fundamental issue for shaping the future. This makes accumulated memory institutions and archives the focus of critical reflection as well. As a manifestation of power, they are called into question in their production of a canon.
From May to November 2021 the programme „ Arbeit am Gedächtnis – Transforming Archives“ examines the actuality of artistic engagement with memory stores and memory as artistic method.
Cemile Sahin, who is presenting a new installation at the gallery, is also presenting a film project at the Akademie der Künste. Her new film, entitled Bad People, Bad News, centers on three Kurdish women who gather every year in a hotel to commemorate the death of Sadam Hussein. Screened within an environment, the film explores the consequences of diaspora on memory and identity.
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