Meet Kader Attia, the first foreign curator of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale
French-Algerian Kader Attia on reimagining the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, living the life of an immigrant, and the need for tolerant spaces
Kader Attia (Le Louvre Florence Brochoire) Earlier this month, when artist Kader Attia was announced curator of the seventh edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), the choice might have come as a surprise to some but there was agreement how it aligned seamlessly with the biennale’s evolution as a forum for larger global conversations, which includes pertinent themes related to migration, identity and political histories. Few artists embody those concerns as profoundly as Attia, a French-Algerian considered among one of the influential voices in contemporary art today.
The first foreign curator of KMB, Attia is no stranger to Kochi. In the coastal city in December 2025 to deliver the inaugural Vivan Sundaram Memorial Lecture, he was also a participant in the 2014 edition of the biennale. “It is a place that has always fascinated me with its dynamism and ever since I first visited Kochi last year, I have thought of returning and building connections between the many influences that are at the core of this culturally multi-layered city that has traces of millions who would have travelled here before us, influencing its different spheres, from political to spiritual, economic and cultural. In fact, I feel the city itself has a lot to offer to the audience, beyond the biennale,” says Attia, 55. The statement is characteristic of the artist who has explored invisible connections between distant geographies and histories through his multi-media practice that spans installations, films, research-based projects and the afterlives of colonialism.
Born in Dugny, in the northwestern outskirts of Paris, he spent a childhood in transit, moving between a home in the hills in Algeria and social housing buildings in Paris. The transience trained his eye, architectural and artistic sensibilities and subconscious alike. He still carries his father’s words regarding their constant relocations. “I used to be depressed about losing friends when we moved every two years, but he told me that as a migrant, neither the country I was leaving nor the one I was going to was important. What was most important was the journey,” says Attia.
It also permeated his art, which is rooted in the belief that the past really is never behind us. This also includes personal experiences, which have shaped some of his works more than others. The figures in Ghost (2017), which discussed perception of religion and multiculturalism, were based on his childhood memories of watching his mother in prayer. The ongoing Venice Biennale features Whisper of Traces that stems from the writings of traditional healers from Africa and Asia, whose practices bind the world of memories and the world of beliefs. His 2018 sculpture, Parfum d’exil, had, as a symbol of immigration, a cement mixer, a reference to his father, who was a builder. Instead of mortar, it ground cloves, a spice traditionally used in West Asian cooking.
In fact, several ideas that have shaped his practice were rooted long before he studied art at the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués Duperré and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and at Escola Massana, Centre d’Art i Disseny in Barcelona. Working in Congo with an NGO in the early ’90s had led to his first solo in 1996, which documented a journey along the Congo river on a passenger boat that Attia describes as a “floating city” with thousands of passengers, accosted by smaller boats of sailors and traders along the way. “In some ways, it was my first impression of the real world and I was truly fascinated by the systems and social groups,” recalls Attia.
The concept of “repair” that is now central to his work can also be traced to Congo, specifically a hand-mended Kuba raffia fabric, with visible patches used to cover holes, gifted to him by a friend. Reflecting how societies continue to carry marks of rupture, the visibility of the scars and acts of concealing them, was powerfully articulated in The Repair from Occident to Extra-Occidental Cultures shown at dOCUMENTA (13) in 2012.
The installation brought together archival photographs of disfigured World War I soldiers, deformed wooden busts, repaired African masks, ethnographic objects, books and objects made from bullet cartridges.
The winner of several prestigious awards such as the Joan Miró Prize (2017) and Prix Marcel Duchamp (2016), Attia was also the curator of the 12th Berlin Biennale (2022), and has his works in numerous museum collections. He has also made conscious efforts to initiate broader forms of public discourse. Most notable among these is in Paris. Established in 2016 as a “decolonial space” for conversations around race, politics and art, the physical venue might have closed during the pandemic, but it has continued through the nomadic format, titled ‘Nomade’.
Attia says, “With the evolution of technology, the collective discursive spaces that society had in the past have dwindled drastically. We need more such tolerant spaces… I believe art exhibitions, too, play a crucial role in democracy as places people visit, use to experiment, listen, discuss and develop an informed opinion. Through these, we are also leaving art traces for the future — this was also the aim, where we brought together individuals to exchange ideas as a collective.”
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