Contemporary Art Society Acquires DISPOSSESSION by Kader Attia

The Contemporary Art Society has announced their acquisition of Dispossession (2013) by Kader Attia for the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art at Frieze London. Addressing themes of colonization and immigration, the museum seeks to play a civic role through a focus on education, activism, and community building, and these themes resonate with the diverse audience it serves. The work was acquired through the Contemporary Art Society's Collections Fund, which was set up in 2012 to support the acquisition of significant contemporary works for Contemporary Art Society museum members across the United Kingdom. It aims to draw together the knowledge and experience of private collectors with that of museum curators.

Dispossession (2013) is a video installation examining the role of Christian missionaries in the colonization of African cultures. The Vatican has a collection of over 80,000 African artifacts brought back to Europe by missionaries during the colonial era. These objects are presented as slides alongside a video series of four interviews conducted between Attia, an anthropologist, an art historian, a priest, and a lawyer. The subject of repatriation is central to the installation as it considers the political and psychoanalytical questions that arise from the collecting of these objects.

The work will be on display at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art from spring 2017.

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