Kader Attia on Decolonization, Error, and Artistic Freedom in a Technological Age

Kader Attia, born in 1970 in Paris's northeastern suburbs and raised between France and Algeria, explores historical trauma and societal inequities through a multidisciplinary practice. His work addresses colonialism, modernity, and structural injustices, with pieces like La Piste d'atterissage (2000–02), Dream Machine (2003), La Tour Robespierre (2018), and Shifting Borders (2018). Attia ran La Colonie, an events space near Paris's Gare du Nord from 2016 to 2020, fostering marginalized voices. He critiques European modernity, as seen in Mirrors and Masks (2013–15), which responds to Picasso's influences and incorporates African mask replicas with mirror fragments. Attia emphasizes error as a creative element and views art as a space for resistance against technological colonialism, citing Jean-Paul Sartre on freedom. He avoids aesthetic standards, working instinctively across photography, sculpture, installation, and video. The artist discussed these themes in a December interview at a café next to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, originally profiled in Canvas 116: Time After Time.