Abbas Akhavan – curtain call, JUNE 23–NOVEMBER 23, 2023
Abbas Akhavan curtain call June 23–November 23, 2023
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen Contemporary, Denmark
The Glyptotek and Copenhagen Contemporary (CC) are collaborating to present the first-ever exhibition in Scandinavia devoted to the work of the artist Abbas Akhavan. Akhavan’s work ranges from site-specific installation to performance, drawing, sculpture and video. In highly alluring and poetic works, Akhavan picks up complex geopolitical narratives, investigating the historical, architectural and social structures of a specific area or place. Sourcing the Glyptotek’s rich collections of ancient Middle Eastern art, Akhavan presents a single exhibition spread across both institutions—from CC’s raw industrial spaces to the Glyptotek’s historical architecture.
The Glyptotek presents Abbas Akhavan’s work cast for a folly (2019–2023), a total installation based on a photograph of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad taken by Corine Wegener, director of the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative The photograph depicts the lobby of the museum after the looting during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It is the first time that the work will be shown in Europe, exactly 20 years after the United States—together with Denmark, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland—moved into Iraq.
At CC, Abbas Akhavan presents the work curtain call, variations on a folly (2021–); a monumental architectural installation made of the ancient building material cob and a green-screen stage. The installation is built in the image of the colonnade that once led up to the great Arch of Palmyra, a 2,000-year-old heritage site in Syria. The arch is thought to have been destroyed by Islamic State militants in 2015, and subsequently replicated in marble by the UK- and US-based Institute of Digital Archeology using 3D imaging technology. curtain call, variations on a folly was originally commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery in London, where it premiered in 2021.
