Joël Andrianomearisoa

Joël Andrianomearisoa
Translations of All Our Lost Passions and Our Future Desires

February 8–June 30, 2021

Kunsthalle Praha is pleased to present Translations of All Our Lost Passions and Future Desires by Malagasy artist Joël Andrianomearisoa, for the 5th edition of the Facade Project, a series of temporary site-specific installations displayed on the exterior walls of the Kunsthalle, the only part of the building accessible to the public during its renovation. It was precisely the building’s phase of transformation, a spatial and temporal "in-between," which inspired the artist for his Facade Project.

“When he first came to Prague to visit the Kunsthalle site, Joël Andrianomearisoa found the city as it had not been since the fall of the Berlin wall. Deprived of tourists, it looked like a frozen stage. This was in June 2020, a few weeks after the first lockdown restrictions were lifted. Planning an international exhibition in such a context seemed a risky endeavour. Ordinarily simple questions, such as the transportation of the art pieces, or the presence of the artist on site, became complex problems. We are therefore delighted to be able to bring the project to fruition this Spring despite these challenges,” says Christelle Havranek, Kunsthalle Praha’s Chief Curator.

Following his visit to Prague, the artist conceived Translations of All Our Lost Passions and Future Desires as an epistolary project that engages with the transforming spaces of the Kunsthalle Praha. This title appears in glowing neon letters on the building’s facade, and is written in Malagasy, the artist’s mother tongue. Language and multilingualism have always lain at the heart of Andrianomearisoa's approach. As a multicultural artist, he manipulates words much as he does objects, assembling, combining and interpreting textures and texts from various sources, creating a protean, polyphonic work.

Translations of All Our Lost Passions and Future Desires unfolds over time and extends beyond the walls of the Kunsthalle. "Translations" here also carries the meaning of "transmissions." Several times a month, from February to June 2021, Joël Andrianomearisoa will mail "letter-works" to the Kunsthalle Praha, created from everyday objects and materials. Establishing an ongoing correspondence between Paris and Antananarivo, Madagascar—his two cities of residence—and Prague, the artist offers a chronicle of his work. As they are received, each of the objects—drawings, assemblages, images, works, textiles, sound-based pieces—are distributed throughout the spaces-in-the-making. Makeshift exhibitions, or those without anyone to attend, are no longer surprising, having become a normal occurrence over the past year. Once installed, the artworks are photographed and exhibited on the Kunsthalle’s social media channels.

What sets Andrianomearisoa's project apart is its temporal aspect. It is a work-in-progress exhibition, viewed over a period of time and consisting of narrative sequences appearing at regular intervals on social media. The gradual unveiling of the works and the resulting sense of expectation act as vectors for desires, promises and hopes.

About the artist
Joël Andrianomearisoa was the first artist to represent his native Madagascar at the 58th Venice Biennale. In 2020 he participated in the 22nd Sydney Biennale and four years earlier he received the Arco Audemars Piguet Prize in Madrid. He has worked with the influential fashion brand Dior, among other things.

About Kunsthalle Praha
Kunsthalle Praha is a new space for culture and art currently being developed in the building of the former Zenger transformer substation in the historical centre of Prague. Once the reconstruction is completed, Kunsthalle Praha will offer visitors an extensive programme of exhibition and educational projects, cultural events and social activities. Its mission is to contribute to a deeper understanding of Czech and international art of the 20th and 21st centuries and to communicate this with a dynamic, contemporary programme to the broadest possible public. The aim is to create a leading cultural institution grounded in expertise and open cooperation, a space which integrates the experience of art and culture into everyday life. Kunsthalle Praha is a non-profit organization founded by the Pudil Family Foundation and it will open its gates to the public at the beginning of 2022.