With Amnesty International at the finissage of “L’Age d’Or”, the controversial Adel Abdessemed’s solo show in Doha

Today closes Adel Abdessemed’s solo show “L’Age d’Or” at Mathaf, the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar, but a contradiction is still unresolved.
Abdessemed is one of the few artists of his generation who is able to merge conceptual art and political issues, like the topics of the exile and of migrants and minorities’ rights. In the same days of the exhibition, Amnesty International denounced the appalling conditions of work and life which workers from Asia (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka, in particular) are subject to in Qatar, also with reference to the Fifa World Cup 2022, that will indeed take place here. How could an artist that through his works conveys messages about human rights deal with such a contradiction, and the audience with him?

July 17, 2015