Ali Cherri (b. 1976, LB) is a video and visual artist. His recent work looks at the role historical objects play in the construction of national narratives, following the artefact from the moment it is dug up until it arrives on the art market or in a museum display. Not only does Cherri reveal what these objects say about us by tracing out their historical, societal, naturale or cultural aspects. He also shows us the magic by which they are transfigured into fetishes, idols, totems or commodities and are thus made to embody a new kind of fiction. Throughout his practice, Cherri asks: How should we inhabit our material world? How can we be more receptive to vibrant materiality? Would our analysis of social and political events change if we paid more attention to the force of things?
Ali Cherri, The Gatekeepers, 2020
Wooden poles, metal, taxidermy, woodcarving, various objects
Commissioned by Manifesta 13 Marseille
Supported by [N.A!] Project, Ammodo and Drosos Foundation
Courtesy of the artist
The Gatekeepers draws on the tradition of erecting totem poles at the gates of certain communities. These vertical pillars can welcome, warn or simply tell the story of the people who once lived there. Using figures inspired by the animal kingdom, the aquatic world or crossbreed beasts, The Gatekeepers welcome visitors to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille and offer a tribute to the souls of all the animals lodged in the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, only a few steps away, in the opposite wing of Palais Longchamp. Despite the proximity of both these institutions, they reassert the divide between nature and culture – a key feature of knowledge production in western modernity. These vertical pillars offer a substitute to the ‘pillars of knowledge’ that these museums represent, while also echoing the colonnade balcony that connects them both.
Ali Cherri, Tiger fed by a Raven after Giovanni Lanfranco’s Elijahfed by a Raven (1624 – 1625), 2020
Wood, metal, taxidermy
Commissioned by Manifesta 13 Marseille
Supported by [N.A!] Project, Ammodo and Drosos Foundation
Courtesy of the Muséum d’Histoire naturelle de Marseille and of the artist
* Work conceived for the occasion of Manifesta 13 Marseille
Watch the Interview of artist Ali Cherri HERE
