This Walid Raad retrospective features documents and scenarios that he either wishes existed or fears are already in existence. We also meet the artist himself in a comprehensive performance work.
Walid Raad began his artist career in the late 1980s and has worked primarily on three major projects: The Atlas Group, Sweet Talk: Commissions, and Scratching on things I could disavow. These projects are closely linked to his experiences of growing up in Beirut during the civil war in Lebanon, moving to New York, and having an emerging career in a globally expansive art world.
Raad engages how violence affects bodies, minds, culture and tradition. In his photographs, videotapes, sculptures, texts and mixed media installations, Raad proceeds from historical events to imagine seemingly ludicrous, bizarre, and wondrous situations and documents.
The exhibition is retrospective, but not chronological. Works from Raad’s major projects are presented side by side in an unprecedented way, opening up for new approaches to his oeuvre and the themes he explores.
Photo: Åsa Lundén / Moderna Museet