The Unbearable Urgency of Existence
The Jim Thompson Art Center hosts an exhibition by Kader Attia that gives a voice to those who are here and the multitudes who are not anymore.
Kader Attia, On Silence. Photo: Swita Uancharoenkul
Colonialism is a history of oppression, power, and violence, but on an atomic scale, it is a history of existences—stripped, mutilated, and removed. These are the stories that Kader Attia portrays in his latest exhibition at the Jim Thompson Art Center, Urgency of Existence. Existence here is not a tangible presence; on the contrary, what manifests to us is its absence and the empty gap that this absence left. A gap that we can see through the traces that colonialism itself has left on these vanished existences.
What we witness moving across the rooms is a story made of empty spaces, like intervals between the notes in a symphony, where the silences are those bodies that were and now are not. And this is precisely what seems to transpire from On Silence, an installation made of vintage prosthetic limbs suspended in the air: the story of the countless wounds of war, where what is missing are the owners of those artificial limbs. Arms and legs float in the air as if we were stuck in time, in the still frame of an explosion, where the prostheses are the stunt doubles of the original torn-apart limbs.
Kader Attia, On Silence. Photo: Swita Uancharoenkul
Another work where the masses and the recognition of their existences are crucial is Ghost, a sculpture in aluminum foil of Muslim women praying, inspired by the artist’s mother. Here too, existence is absence, to the extent that the tin foil sculptures are shells emptied of individuals, but because of this, they portray their presence even more powerfully.
Kader Attia, Ghost. Photo: Swita Uancharoenkul
If in these two works Attia’s discourse moves on a global scale, with the video La Valise Oubliée (The Forgotten Suitcase), the artist brings us into a more intimate and human narrative, as his mother and two friends talk about the implications of colonialism on their lives. In this case, existence is made of presences—emotional bonds between the artist and people whom Attia allows to tell their own stories in their own voices, without betraying them.
Kader Attia, La Valise Oubliée. Photo: Swita Uancharoenkul
Kader Attia, Untitled (Mirrors). Photo: Swita Uancharoenkul
About the Artist: Kader Attia
Kader Attia is a French-Algerian artist currently living and working in Berlin and Paris. Attia uses his art as a medium to question the sociopolitical intricacies rooted in colonial histories and cultural distortions. He has exhibited his work in international art exhibitions and biennales, including the 3rd Thailand Biennale, the 12th Gwangju Biennale, the 57th Venice Biennale, and Documenta 13.
In recognition of his impactful contributions to contemporary art, Attia was awarded the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2016. Beyond his artistic practice, he founded La Colonie in 2016, a cultural space located in a former textile factory in Paris’s 10th arrondissement. Designed as a hub for the Algerian community, artists, and intellectuals, La Colonie provided a platform for dialogue on topics such as racism, colonialism, and cultural appropriation.
About the Curator: Gridthiya Gaweewong
Gridthiya Gaweewong is the Artistic Director of the Jim Thompson Art Center in Bangkok. Alongside Rirkrit Tiravanija, she served as Artistic Director for the Thailand Biennale Chiang Rai 2023/2024.
She co-founded the alternative art space Project 304 with Montien Boonma, Kamol Phaosavasdi, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, which operated between 1996 and 2003. In addition to her role at the Jim Thompson Art Center, she is a Guest Curator at the MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai. She also co-founded the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival with Apichatpong Weerasethakul, which ran from 1997 to 2007. Gridthiya’s curatorial work addresses issues of social transformation experienced by artists in Thailand and beyond since the Cold War.
For more information on museums, institutions, and contemporary art galleries in Bangkok, you can find an updated list in the Exhibitions section.