Fragments of Repair

BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht proudly presents Fragments of Repair, a multi-part project consisting of an exhibition, collective study program, and series of gatherings in collaboration with artist Kader Attia and decolonial forum La Colonie, Paris. In the project, Attia proposes the notion of “decolonial repair” as a tactic to engage with the planetary urgencies of collective mental health in a world wounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. The online opening program takes place on Saturday, April 17, 2021, 1:30–6pm CEST, broadcast live from BAK in Utrecht and La Dynamo de Banlieues Bleues—a temporary hosting venue for La Colonie—in Pantin, Paris, and is accessible via Zoom and a livestream on bakonline.org (please register here).

Please note that while the online opening program on April 17, 2021 and all other parts of the project take place according to schedule, due to the uncertainties brought about by the current pandemic conditions, the opening of the exhibition Fragments of Repair/Kader Attia at BAK is yet to be determined. Until then, BAK invites individual people (or a maximum of two people from one household) to spend a day within the exhibition, and engage with the works’ decolonial concept of “repair.” Interested in this “one-day residency”? See here for more info.

Decolonial repair
Injury, wound, and repair have been key concepts across Attia’s artistic practice, especially in relation to the material and immaterial injustices of colonial violence that persist into the present. The current conditions bring these injustices into sharper relief, while adding additional injuries through chronic uncertainty, social isolation, exhaustion, loss, and fear. What pathways can repair—not a return to past ways, but an itinerary shaped by demands for decolonization and the politics of restitution—offer to life in and out of the viral and psychological pandemonium?

Multi-part project and new work
The project unfolds through multiple dispersed yet interconnected “fragments,” including Fragments of Repair/Kader Attia, an exhibition by Attia at BAK in Utrecht; “Fragments of Repair/La Colonie Nomade,” a collective study program convened by Françoise Vergès and hosted at La Dynamo de Banlieues Bleues in Pantin, Paris; and “Fragments of Repair/Gatherings,” an online series of lectures, conversations, screenings, and assembly forums convened by BAK on bakonline.org. Over the course of the program, Attia engages in the production of a new work in the form of a podcast and sound installation. It probes repair as a concrete practice to counter the psychological impact of living through a pandemic, realized in collaboration with students, academics, and activists in the city of Utrecht and a number of partners in the field of higher education and medical research. Fragments of Repair has been conceptualized by Kader Attia and Wietske Maas in conversation with Maria Hlavajova, Rachael Rakes, Françoise Vergès, and the BAK Team.

Opening program
The opening program on April 17, 2021, accessible via Zoom and a livestream on bakonline.org, consists of conversations, lectures, and panel discussions, and includes contributions by artist Kader Attia; BAK general and artistic director Maria Hlavajova; art historian and BAK senior research advisor Sven Lütticken; BAK curator Wietske Maas; philosopher Catherine Malabou; philosopher and political thinker Achille Mbembe; and political theorist, feminist, and decolonial activist Françoise Vergès. The opening program is free of charge, but registration is required: please sign up here.

The activities of BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht are made possible with the financial support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the City Council, Utrecht. Fragments of Repair is part of the long-term BAK research itinerary Propositions for Non-Fascist Living (2017–ongoing) and has received additional funding from: VSBfonds, Utrecht; BankGiro Loterij Fonds, Amsterdam; BNG Cultuurfonds, The Hague; Fonds 21, Utrecht; Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Utrecht; Institut français des Pays-Bas, The Hague; and Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa), Stuttgart.

BAK’s main partner in the field of education and research is HKU University of the Arts Utrecht.