Filming The Invented History at KINDL
It was a dream come true to make a video about an exhibition I had fallen in love with. The Invented History, a current exhibition at the KINDL Centre for Contemporary Art in Berlin, was one of the few museum experiences I was able to have during the short time between lockdowns in early autumn. The way this show of innovative contemporary artworks treats the topic of archaeology spoke to me as an archaeologist, but the connection goes even deeper still.
The exhibition thematizes human history as an invented product – hence the title. History is written by the winners, as we’ve heard it said; and regardless of who’s writing, the perspective is subjective. Skewed, you could say. But we can easily forget this when the history appears in textbooks as “fact.” How many textbooks would it take, do you think, to codify a story into accepted history?
This is a topic I discuss repeatedly with my students, hoping to hone their skills for critical thinking. Critical thinking can be hardest when faced with long-accepted “knowledge,” which feels so natural that we hardly think about it at all.
So I was enraptured by this exhibition focusing on exactly this issue. Curator and museum director Kathrin Becker was so kind as to meet with me and discuss the show, including an intimate, exclusive, close-up tour of three special artworks. Take a look at the video and leave a comment with your thoughts – I’d love to hear from you!
Camera and technical work by Modicolitor was indispensible, as always!
Cover image: detail from Nadia Kaabi-Linke, The Altarpiece, 2015.
Have you seen contemporary art deal with history and archaeology, either like this or in different ways? Share in the comments below!
