HODA TAWAKOL. Silent Voices in a Palm Grove

For Dortmunder Kunstverein’s new exhibition space, Egyptian-French artist Hoda Tawakol (*1968 in London, lives in Hamburg) creates an installation of large-format textile sculptures that turn the Kunstverein into an oasis, therefore reflecting both on the physical conditions of human relationships and more broadly on the function of art institutions in an urban context: In a textile palm grove, hair costumes of female warriors encounter human-sized hawk masks that are normally used for shielding the animal’s view from external stimuli.

Tawakol's works plunge the viewer into a world oscillating between sensuality and brutality and deal with questions of body and identity. They refer to North African culture and traditions, to hybrid states and to the ambiguity of language and signs, thus creating an awareness of the relations of gaze between people as well as between people and objects or people and works of art.

Silent voices in a Palm Grove is the artist's first institutional solo exhibition in Germany. She studied fine arts with Andreas Slominski at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg. Her works have been presented internationally, for instance in exhibitions at the Museum for Art in Wood, Philadelphia (2023) and Kunsthalle Schirn, Frankfurt am Main (2020).

*

Program

THURS 16 MARCH, 5:30-6:30 PM
WORK IN PROGRESS
Construction Site
for members: preview of the premises with sparkling wine and snacks, on artworks by Kunstverein member Sabine Oecking

FRI 24 MARCH, 7 PM
RE-OPENING AND VERNISSAGE
Welcome: Marion Edelhoff (Chairwoman)
Greetings: Jörg Stüdemann (City Manager)
Introduction: Rebekka Seubert (Artistic Director)

SUN 26 MARCH, 2 PM
GUIDED TOUR
with the curator Rebekka Seubert

THURS 11 MAY, 7 PM
FILM EVENING #22
Maha Maamoun
Selected short films by the Egyptian video artist Maha Maamoun (*1972)
Language: OV Arabic with Subtitles

THURS 1 JUNE, 7-9 PM
THEME EVENING
Hair Policy
EXHIBITION TALK

Walk & Talk with Hélia Paukner (Curator, Mucem, Marseille) and Rebekka Seubert
LECTURE
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Karentzos (Chair of Fashion and Aesthetics, TU Darmstadt): Hair Politics - Decolonial Body Practices in Contemporary Art