Nothing to declare? Künstlergespräch mit Alya Sebti Weltkarten der Kunst seit ʼ89

Alya Sebti, künstlerische Leiterin der 5. Biennale in Marrakesch und Kuratorin für zeitgenössische Kunst aus Nordafrika. Seit 2011 arbeitet sie als unabhängige Kuratorin und realisierte u.a. internationale Ausstellungen wie „Urban Landscape“ (Amsterdam Photography Biennale, 2012), „Des Espaces Autres“ (Casablanca, 2012) sowie „Arte East Cycle of exhibition on Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia“ (2012 und 2014).

How to curate different cultures?

What does it means to curate in a different culture, different from the one in Berlin where the Artist Talk is based. To me, it addresses the question of curating in a specific space with its specific tradition and norms. It stands for curating in relation to the context, in relation to the history, the geography, the topography of the place, in relation to the language, the habits of the place. It means also trying its best addressing as a priority the local audience as an attempt to address local problematic. As the artist Alfredo Jaar asserts: “the aim of art is to ask question so as to make people problematize their context”. It means to be culturally grounded by relating to the local tradition of the exhibition site and therefore to open it up stimulating a frame of encounter and exchange between local and international artists addressing an audience which would also include local cultural initiatives, institutions, students and association.

By Alya Sebti, April 2013