The Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, is hosting a professional afternoon event featuring artist Kader ATTIA.
The event will explore the concept of “repair” and its artistic, social, and political implications through lectures, screenings, and a Q&A panel discussion that will also provide opportunities for active audience participation.
During the afternoon, art historian and curator Timea JUNGHAUS will reflect on Kader Attia’s presentation in the context of Hungary and the region. Timea JUNGHAUS is a leading figure in the Roma cultural and political movement. Through her research and curatorial work, she examines modern and contemporary art using critical theory, with a particular focus on cultural differences, the effects of the colonial past, and the representation of minorities.
The event will be held in English; no interpretation will be provided.
Kader Attia is an internationally recognised Algerian-French contemporary visual artist who currently lives and works in Berlin and Paris; he curated the 12th Berlin Biennale in 2022 and has also been invited to serve as curator of the 7th Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2027–2028).
The central themes of his art are cultural identity, the legacy of colonisation, collective trauma, and his own philosophical and political concept of “repair.” The concept of “repair” is also the focus of the Ludwig Museum’s professional afternoon event.
For years, Attia has been examining the way societies view their own history, with particular attention to experiences of deprivation and oppression, violence, and loss, and how these experiences influence the development of nations and individuals—all of which are linked to collective memory.
His works aim at restoration, forming a kind of cultural resistance through the reappropriation of the body—as the bearer of physical scars—and history—as the repository of civilisational and social scars. Many of his works allude to arbitrary cultural hierarchies and can also be interpreted as institutional critiques.
Kader Attia’s work has been recognised with France’s most prestigious contemporary art award, the Prix Marcel Duchamp (2016), as well as Spain’s Premio Joan Miró (2017). His works are included in major public collections around the world, such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, MoMA in New York, and the Tate Modern in London.
In Hungary, a work by Attia has been part of the Ludwig Museum’s collection since 2019; in addition, the museum’s program has featured several exhibitions and projects related to Attia’s field of research and his restorative approach—including exhibitions at the Ludwig Museum in 2022 (“Emplotment”), in 2025 (“In a Field Well-Found”), and in 2026 (“Golden Repair”), and he was featured in the main exhibition of the 5th OFF Biennal (2025).
Programme Schedule (4.00 p.m.–7.00 p.m.)
Opening remarks | Borbála KÁLMÁN, Viktória POPOVICS
Lecture | Kader ATTIA, artist
Screening of Kader ATTIA’s video work Reflecting Memory (2016)
Reflection and Contextualisation | Timea JUNGHAUS art historian, curator
Short Break
Q&A Panel with Kader ATTIA
Screening of Kader ATTIA’s video work La Valise Oubliée (The Forgotten Suitcase, 2024).
In the film—which premiered at the 36th São Paulo Biennial in the exhibition titled “Not All Travelers Walk Roads / Of Humanity as Practice”—Attia uses the suitcase as a metaphor for the ambiguities of the past and the possibilities of the future, while playing with the idea of an unfinished narrative.
Closing Remarks
Concept: Borbála KÁLMÁN, art historian and curator | Viktória POPOVICS, art historian and curator
Admission to the event requires a ticket. Ticket price: 3,300 Ft; 50% discount for students.
Please be informed that our events will be recorded by sound and video, from which the Ludwig Museum may use details to promote the museum and its programs and for other promotional purposes. By participating in our events, you agree that you may appear on the recordings, but you may not make any claim against the use of the recording with the Ludwig Museum or third parties authorized by it.
