Kader Attia's 'The Museum of Repair' at State of Concept Athens explores decolonial themes through film and installation

Kader Attia's exhibition 'The Museum of Repair' at State of Concept in Athens presents a survey of his decade-long engagement with decolonial art practice. The show features several video works including 'Reason's Oxymorons' (2015), an 18-film compilation examining Western and non-Western psychiatric approaches through interviews with Francophone ethnographers, ethnopsychologists, and ethnomusicologists. 'The Object's Interlacing' (2020) directly addresses artifact restitution from Western museums, while 'The Body's Legacies: Part 2: The Post-Colonial Body' (2018) explores institutionalized police brutality against France's Black population through four decolonial thinkers. A minimalist installation using temporary security fencing displays printed news articles about the migrant crisis alongside video interviews. 'La Tour Robespierre' (2018), a two-minute drone-shot film of a Parisian housing complex, reveals connections between modernist architecture and state surveillance. The exhibition ran from April 14 to June 19, 2024, in Athens, Greece. Attia's work critiques Western epistemological limits, colonial power structures, and the instrumentalization of culture, generating specific resonance in Athens' historical context near the Parthenon. The films feature interviews with academics and non-academics discussing topics ranging from West African Ndeup traditions to looted artifact restitution, often filmed in offices decorated with African ritual objects.