Fiona Tan : Geography of Time

This solo exhibition by Fiona Tan features major film works alongside new installation environments by the artist. Tan has transformed the ground floor of the MMK into a parcours in which video projections, audio and sculptural works join in a concentrated reflection on the individual in an increasingly disjointed globalized world. Fundamental questions on the identity of man in the 21st century arise in the process: how do we see ourselves, and what determines our perspective on the “other”?

In her filmically striking images and installations, Fiona Tan addresses how our own memories influence our perceptions of the present. In her imagery, the boundaries between personal and collective memory, interior and exterior, fiction and reality dissolve. Time, memory and identity—central themes in Fiona Tan’s oeuvre since the beginning of her artistic career—are also the leitmotifs pursued by the seven works on view at the MMK. With object installations, archival materials and interventions in the museum architecture, Tan’s filmic worlds expand into the exhibition space. Allusion to the freeports for art and luxury goods intertwine with reflections on the themes of transit, boundary dissolution and the loss of roots and identity.

The exhibition features works such as Diptych (2006–11) resulting from a five year film project by the artist, the large-scale double projection Rise and Fall (2009), recent video installations and mixed media environments, such as Ghost Dwellings I–III (2014) and 1 to 87 (2014), the video works Nellie (2013) and Apocalypse (2014), and the sound piece Brendan’s Isle (2010).

Catalogue: The exhibition is accompanied by a Koenig Books, London publication.

The exhibition was organised in collaboration with the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo (Norway), the MUDAM, Luxembourg, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Israel).
At the MMK the exhibition was curated by Peter Gorschlüter.

The exhibition is generously supported by: Mondriaan Fund, Kingdom of The Netherlands, Ammodo Foundation
Within the framework of: Flanders&The Netherlands Guest of Honour of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2016