Ali Cherri's 'How I Am Monument' at Secession, Vienna
At the Secession in Vienna, Ali Cherri’s exhibition titled 'How I Am Monument' dives into how colonialism, nationalism, and geopolitics shape our understanding of history and cultural value. Cherri, who was born in Beirut in 1976 during the Lebanese Civil War, uses various mediums like films, installations, sculptures, and drawings to explore the connection between violence and political imagination. His first bronze piece, 'Tree of Life' (2024), takes inspiration from an ancient relief of Sargon housed in the Louvre. He also blends archaeological finds from auctions into unique sculptures that critique Western museum norms. A display highlights damaged monument pedestals from events like the Arab Spring, while his video works address themes of displacement and struggle.
Key facts
- Ali Cherri's exhibition 'How I Am Monument' is at Secession, Vienna.
- Cherri was born in Beirut in 1976, a year into the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990).
- The sculpture 'Tree of Life' (2024) is Cherri's first bronze work, modeled after a Mesopotamian relief of Sargon from the Louvre.
- Cherri sources archaeological relics from auction houses and antiquities markets.
- He contrasts mud with bronze to invert power dynamics.
- The vitrine installation features empty pedestals of monuments vandalized during Arab Spring, post-Soviet countries, and Black Lives Matter.
- The slide projection 'A Monument to Subtle Rot' (2024) includes text by Palestinian novelist Karim Kattan.
- The three-channel video 'Of Men and Gods and Mud' (2022) won Silver Lion at 59th Venice Biennale, shot at Merowe Dam in Sudan.
Entities
Artists
- Ali Cherri
- Karim Kattan
Institutions
- Secession
- Louvre
- Venice Biennale
Locations
- Vienna
- Austria
- Beirut
- Lebanon
- Paris
- France
- Merowe Dam
- Nile River
- Northern Sudan
- Sudan