Kader Attia (b. 1970, Dugny, France; lives and works in Berlin and Paris) grew up in Algeria and the suburbs of Paris. Drawing from his experience of living within two disparate cultures, he has developed a dynamic practice that examines the intricacies of social, historical, and cultural differences across the globe. Attia’s installations and sculptures offer a poetic yet highly explicit reading of the relationships between Western and non-Western cultures. Through complex investigations of architecture, the human body, literature, and history, Attia demonstrates how individual and cultural identity is constructed within the context of colonial domination and conflict. Using artifacts, discarded quotidian objects, and wartime ephemera, Attia transforms the space of the gallery into one of introspection, allowing the viewer to become aware of the complicated and often inaccurate depiction of our multiple histories. Attia believes that through this type of reappropriation, disparities between superior/inferior, traditional/modern, and exotic/familiar can begin to dissolve.
卡德·阿提亞(1970年生於法國)的童年在巴黎郊區以及阿爾及利亞度過,而這段跨文化的經歷則成為了他往後充滿活力的藝術創作的一個根基與起點。阿提亞善於在作品裏反思不同文化的美學與價值觀。他以一種詩意、有象征意味的藝術語言探索西方文化霸權與殖民侵略對非西方文化國家的影響與後果。阿提亞在探討殖民時代歷史的同時,也試圖在當今全球化的背景下重新思索我們在殖民時代的政治身份。阿提亞目前於德國柏林定居及從事藝術創作。