Kader Attia. Photo: Nicole Tanzini di Bella Kader Attia
Kader Attia (b. 1970, FR) is a multidisciplinary artist who draws upon the lived experiences of two disparate cultural identities: Algerian and French. From this place of cultural intermediacy, Attia’s practice interrogates sociopolitical complexities rooted in histories of colonialism and cultural obfuscation. In his practice, Attia employs poetic installations and sculptural assemblages to investigate the far-reaching emotional implications of western cultural hegemony and colonial systems of power for non-western subjectivities, focusing particularly on collective trauma and notions of repair.
His work is part of the collections of Sharjah Art Foundation; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; Tate Gallery, London; Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, among others.  He also served as interlocutor for the Sharjah Biennial 13 off-site project Vive l’Indépendence de l’Eau, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar (2017).
Attia was awarded the Joan Miró Prize (2017), the Yanghyun Prize (2017), the Prix Marcel Duchamp (2016), Cairo Biennale Prize (2009) and the Abraaj Capital Art Prize (2009). He was also curator of the 12th Berlin Biennale (2022). He holds degrees from the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués, Paris (1993); Escola Massana de Artes Aplicades, Barcelona (1994) and École National Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (1998).
Attia currently lives and works between Berlin and Paris.
Exhibitions
