MGK Museum für Gegenwartskunst

Anna Boghiguian

Sometimes unexpectedly the present meets the past

03 Sep 2021 - 09 Jan 2022

The Salt Traders, 2015, exhibition view, MGKSiegen, Courtesy Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Leihgabe der Fondazione per l'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CTE, ©the artist, photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
Woven Winds. The Making of an Economy - Costly Commodietiers, 2016-2021, Exhibition view, MGKSiegen, Courtesy the artist, Photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
Woven Winds. The Making of an Economy - Costly Commodietiers, 2016, E. Righi Collection, Exhibition view, MGKSiegen, Courtesy the artist, Photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
Endangered bees and honeycombs, 2020, Exhibition view, MGKSiegen, Cortesy the artist, Photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
Woven Winds. The Making of an Economy - Costly Commodietiers, 2016 - 2021, Exhibition view, MGKSiegen, Courtesy the artist, Photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
From the Palace to the Ditch, 2021, Courtesy the artist
From the Palace to the Ditch, 2021, Exhibition view, MGKSiegen, Courtesy the artist, Photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
From the Palace to the Ditch, 2021, Exhibition view, MGKSiegen, Courtesy the artist, Photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
Jardin de l'inconscient, 2016-2019, Collection Carré D'Art, Musée d'art contemporain de Nîmes, Exhibition view, MGKSiegen, Curtesy the artist, Photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
The Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen is presenting the first monographic museum exhibition in Germany with works by Anna Boghiguian (*1946 Cairo, EG).

In her works, the Egyptian-Canadian artist of Armenian origin explores the impact of historical, economic and political events. From a very personal perspective and with deep roots in literature, the well-travelled artist engages with the world’s peoples, cultures, places and major connecting lines. Boghiguian translates her nomadic experiences into artists’ books, drawings, paintings, collages and installations.

The exhibition “Sometimes unexpectedly the present meets the past” at MGKSiegen provides a comprehensive overview of Anna Boghiguian’s work in twelve rooms through ground-breaking spatial installations. In addition, new groups of works dealing with the construction of the Suez Canal and the time of the Spanish flu will be shown for the first time.

Boghiguian is considered one of the most interesting contemporary artists of our time. She has exhibited regularly in international museums and art institutions over the past ten years. Among other things, she took part in dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel and received – together with other Armenian artists – the Golden Lion in 2015 for her contribution to the Armenian Pavilion at the 56th Biennale di Venezia. In addition, her works have been exhibited at the Sharjah (2011), Istanbul (2015), Santa Fe (2016) and Sydney (2019) biennials, as well as Manifesta 13 in Marseille (2020). Her work has been shown in major solo exhibitions worldwide, most recently in the S.M.A.K., Ghent (2020), Tate St. Ives (2019), the New Museum, New York (2018), Museum der Moderne, Salzburg (2018), Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2017), and Carré d’Art, Nîmes (2016).

“Anna Boghiguian, Sometimes unexpectedly the present meets the past” at MGKSiegen is curated by Thomas Thiel and being produced in cooperation with the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM), Valencià, where the exhibition will be shown subsequently. Accompanying the exhibitions, a comprehensive monograph will be published in spring 2022, edited by the MGKSiegen, the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) in Valencià and the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.) in Ghent.