Socially critical art at macLyon

An already familiar face and a first-time exhibitor will present their artworks in parallel in two exhibitions at macLyon: Until My Veins Collapse (States of Emergency) by Tunisian Thameur Mejri and The Red Ventriloquist by Mary Sibande, who was already on view at the Biennial of Contemporary Art at macLyon in 2013, will begin on February 11, 2022. Thameur Mejri's works are being exhibited in France for the first time. Both exhibitions will end on Juli 10.

Since the revolution in Tunisia in 2010/2011, more and more young people are leaving the country. The government cannot get a grip on chaotic conditions in the administration, democracy seems to exist only on paper. Unequal power distributions divide Tunisian society. Mejri, who was born in Tunis in 1982 and teaches at the Institut des Beaux-Arts in Tunis, addresses the dangers that threaten the individual in an unstable democracy in his paintings and video works.

South African artist Mary Sibande (*1982) also addresses social division in large-scale sculptures and installations: While apartheid has officially ended in South Africa, no real change has been seen in recent decades. Economic power continues to lie with the white minority, while frustration over injustice in the black majority often expresses itself in violent confrontations. Sibande channels her own frustration into the artworks, conveying the tensions of her homeland. In 2011, Sibande represented South Africa at the Venice Biennale.