...with Monira Al Qadiri

In this episode of WAS MIT KUNST, Johann König talks to the Berlin-based artist Monira al Qadiri. Monira is a Kuwaiti visual artist born in Senegal and educated in Japan. Her diverse body of works which includes sculpture, installation, film, and performance is based on research into the cultural history of the Gulf region. Johann and Monira talk about how she grew up as a child in the war, about the traumata that arose from it, and about the role these experiences play in her life and especially in her art. Oil is a recurring theme in Moniras life. She says that oil has revolutionized the way we live, while simultaneously destroying us. She reflects on modern reality and how people tend to ignore climate change and other realities. Her works often have a tragic undercurrent, despite their shiny and humorous appearance at first glance. Monira traces the fragile ecosystems threatened by the oil industry's relentless extraction of resources and imagines a world where oil is a relic of the human past. In her upcoming show at Kunsthaus Bregenz, the largest show she has ever done, Monira will present oil in different ways, exploring its impact on our lives and the consequences it brings. She also shares exiting details about her film that will be exhibited at Gallery Weekend in König Galerie, Berlin.