Kader Attia
Kader Attia was born in 1970 in Dugny, France.
He lives and works in Berlin and Paris.
Kader Attia grew up in Paris and in Algeria. Preceding his studies at the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués Duperré and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and at Escola Massana, Centre d’Art i Disseny in Barcelona, he spent several years in Congo and in South America. The experience of living between different cultures, the histories of which over centuries have been characterised by rich trading traditions, colonialism and multi-ethnic societies, has fostered Kader Attia’s intercultural and interdisciplinary approach of research. For many years, he has been exploring the perspective that societies have on their history, especially as regards experiences of deprivation and suppression, violence and loss, and how this affects the evolving of nations and individuals — each of them being connected to collective memory.
His social-cultural research has led Kader Attia to the notion of repair, a concept he has been developing philosophically in his writings and symbolically in his oeuvre as a visual artist. With the principle of Repair being a constant in nature — thus also in humanity —, any system, social institution or cultural tradition can be considered as an infinite process of repair, which is closely linked to loss and wounds, to recuperation and re-appropriation. Repair reaches far beyond the subject and connects the individual to gender, philosophy, science, and architecture, and also involves it in evolutionary processes in nature, culture, myth and history. Following the idea of catharsis, his work aims at art’s re-appropriation of the field of emotion that, running from ethics to aesthetics, from politics to culture, links individuals and social groups through emotional experience, and that is in danger of being seized by recent nationalist movements.
In 2016, Kader Attia founded La Colonie, a space in Paris to share ideas and to provide an agora for vivid discussion that extends his praxis from representation to action. Focussing on decolonialisation not only of peoples but also of knowledge, attitudes and practices, it aspires to de-compartmentalise knowledge by a trans-cultural, trans-disciplinary and trans-generational approach. Driven by the urgency of social and cultural reparations, it aims at reuniting which has been shattered, or drift apart.
Kader Attia’s work has been shown in group shows and biennials such as the 24th Paiz Art Biennial, Guatemala (2025); Desert X AlUla (2024); the 1st Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial (2024); the 15th Sharjah Biennial (2023); the 12th Shanghai Biennial (2018); the 12th Gwangju Biennial (2018); Manifesta12, Palermo (2018); the 57th Venice Biennial (2017); dOCUMENTA(13), Kassel (2012); as well as at MetBreuer, New York; Kunsthalle Wien; MoMA, New York; Tate Modern, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Notable solo exhibitions include CAAC, Sevilla (2025); MUAC, Mexico City (2025); MO.CO, Montpellier(2024); Berlinische Galerie, Berlin (2024); Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok (2024); MATHAF, Doha (2022); Kunsthaus Zürich (2020); Sesc Pompeia, São Paulo (2020); Berkeley Art Museum (2019); TheHayward Gallery, London (2019); Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona (2018); MacVal, Vitry-sur-Seine (2018); The Power Plant, Toronto (2018); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2017); SMAK, Gent (2017); Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2016); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); Musée Cantonaldes Beaux Arts, Lausanne (2015); Beirut Art Center (2014); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2013); KWInstitute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2013); among others.
In 2016, Kader Attia was awarded with the Marcel Duchamp Prize, followed in 2017 by the Prize of the Miró Foundation, Barcelona, and the Yanghyun Art Prize, Seoul.
