KW Institute for Contemporary Art

The films, installations, and performative works of the Egyptian artist Wael Shawky explore the ways in which social and political systems have been restructured in Arab countries over the past several decades.
Through restaging historical events with children and marionettes and by using displacement and alienation in content and form, he creates a transitional space between documentation, fiction, and animation. Lovingly and meticulously produced
settings and costumes, a wealth of literary and historic references, and astutely selected music come together to create extraordinarily multifaceted films that invite us to think about history and the present day in new ways.

For his solo exhibition at KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, Wael Shawky has created a new, large-scale video installation. Based on his personal experiences in Al Araba Al Madfuna in Upper Egypt—the ancient city of Abydos—he restages with children the story of a local shaman: When a promising figure with a mustache carrying a lantern enters the assembly room of the borough of Al Araba Al Madfuna, an unanticipated secret is revealed under the carpet in the center of the room. A hole in the ground promises wealth and the diggings begin...