Hamburger Bahnhof presents the first institutional solo exhibition of Saâdane Afif in Berlin. The exhibition offers insight into the work of the interdisciplinary artist, who has lived in the city since 2003, and features, among other works, the extensive project The Fountain Archives. This artistic archival project is dedicated to one of the most prominent chapters of 20th-century art history: the legendary readymade Fountain by Marcel Duchamp from 1917. Afif’s spatial installation, which focuses on the reception history of Duchamp’s urinal readymade, was donated to the museum by Paul Maenz in 2023. The exhibition presents this installation alongside other works that profoundly and humorously question the art museum as an institution, as well as the concept of authorship.

In his installations, objects, concerts, and performances, Saâdane Afif references works or events from the fields of art history, music, and poetry. The long-term project The Fountain Archives began in 2008 with the act of collecting magazines, catalogues, and books, culminating in 2022 with the publication of a three-volume index on Marcel Duchamp’s (1887–1968) famous urinal readymade, a work that sparked a debate in 1917 about what constitutes art. The spatial installation which consists of bookshelves also includes 25 song lyrics inspired by the “Fountain Project,” which Afif commissioned from fellow artists, musicians, and writers. The exhibition also features the work L’Humour noir, created in 2010 for the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, which raises questions about the history of the avant-garde, its reception, and its presentation in museums. Also on display are the newly created The Old, referring to Jeff Koons’ 1980s series The New, and Live, an ongoing, continuously updated and increasingly overlapping presentation of posters advertising cultural events in Berlin during the exhibition period.

Saâdane Afif was born in 1970 in Vendôme, France, and has lived and worked in Berlin since 2003. His work has been shown at Documenta 12 (2007) and the 56th Venice Biennale (2015). In 2009, he was awarded the prestigious Prix Marcel Duchamp. His solo exhibitions have included shows at Centre Pompidou in Paris (2010), Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main (2012), Wiels, Brussels and Kunsthalle Wien (2018). Afif also participated in the 8th Berlin Biennale in 2014 and in the concert and exhibition project Scores at Hamburger Bahnhof in 2016. In 2022, he served as the artistic director of the Bergen Assembly art project in Norway.

Exhibition Catalogue

A publication in the catalogue series of the Hamburger Bahnhof, edited by Silvana Editoriale Milano, will accompany the exhibition.

Curator

The exhibition is curated by Gabriele Knapstein, Head of Collections and Deputy Director of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart.

The exhibition is supported by
Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e. V.
Daniel Schmidt

A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin