SAID ADRUS – Recreating the Archive (EN)

11 to 28 September 2021
Display, Screenings, Conversations, Performance, Food, Music
Living Room, Moserstrasse 30, 3014 Bern

In the 1990s, the artist Said Adrus exhibited some of his work in Switzerland, the country where he spent his youth before following „London Calling“ in the late 1970s. His paintings were political-aesthetic artefacts from the 1980s, when anti-racist struggles were shaking up post-colonial Britain. „Mit däm chöi mir nut afaa!“ was, on the other hand, the reaction Said received in supposedly racism-free Heidiland. Aré!

30 years later, Said Adrus, as artist-in-community, shows the same works in the Living Room. In the wake of a more recent anti-racist movement in Switzerland – his images, experiences and visions take on a new resonance. The residency is planned as a conversation with the community and the public. In September, screenings, story-telling formats, food and music from the diaspora open an access to a postcolonial archive of resistance and utopia.

Sat , Sept. 11, 4 pm
Soft Opening

In a casual atmosphere and in exchange with the community, the artist Said Adrus will share background information about his work and archive.

Fri, Sept. 17, 8 pm
Screening „Riddle of Bakuli“ (20’) + Conversation from the Diaspora

This experimental film shows Said Adru’s journey through space and time to Kampala (Uganda), where he grew up. Followed by an informal exchange with guests from the East African Diaspora and audience.

Sa, 18. September
5 pm Chat Party
7.30 pm Reframing Riots – Archival Performance (Said Adrus, Rohit Jain, Anisha Imhasly)

Three friends from the South Asian diaspora meet in an postcolonial living room, and share stories from their lives. A political-biographic journey between Kampala, Delhi, Brick Lane and Gyrischachen.

Wed, Sept. 22., 8 pm
Film Screening „My beautiful Laundrette“ (Stephen Frears, 1985)

This film adaptation of Hanif Kureishi’s cult book depicts the impossible friendship between a South Asian dreamer and a white, English bully. A funny, melodramatic and utopian message from the past.

Tue, Sept. 28, 6 pm
Artist Talk (in Collaboration with Laura Maj Locher Y-Talk, HKB)

How can artistic work make postcolonial memories visible? How can such work itself be used as an archive for a new generation to make visible the struggles of the past? Who archives subversive art from the margins? Insights into an ongoing conversation between Said Adrus and Rohit Jain – with public discussion and live-stream by Y-Talk/HKB.