»Saâdane Afif: Five Preludes«

French artist Saâdane Afif (born 1970) has been living in Berlin since 2003, and on December 12, his first major solo exhibition in the city opened at Hamburger Bahnhof: Saâdane Afif: Five Preludes presents Afif's interdisciplinary work, which is characterized by subtle humor and profound thoughts. Afif's installations, objects, concerts, and performances draw on works or events from art history, music, and poetry. One of his best-known works is the multi-part The Fountain Archives (2008-2022), an intense examination of Marcel Duchamp's famous readymade Fountain (1917). Afif's room installation came to the museum in 2023 as a gift from Paul Maenz. It also features the 2010 work L'Humour noir, which addresses questions about the reception of the avant-garde and its legacy in museums. The exhibition Saâdane Afif: Five Preludes can be seen in Berlin until September 13, 2026.

Afif studied in Bourges and Nantes and has exhibited in numerous museums, including the Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, the Kunsthalle Wien, and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. He was also represented at Documenta 12 (2007), the Berlin Biennale (2014), and the Venice Biennale (2015). In 2009, he received the Marcel Duchamp Prize shortly after beginning work on The Fountain Archives. Afif was also artistic director of the Bergen Assembly, which takes place every three years, in 2022.