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3/10/2012

Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc

Tower Works, Leeds

In the engine house of a former pin factory French artist Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc presents a new film and installation. Through the voices of local children the film tells stories old a new of the exploitation of metal-rich African subsoils by foreign powers.

Abonnenc's new work confronts the contemporary and historic exploitation of copper in the Katanga region of Congo, a region that has been repeatedly ravaged since its colonization by Belgian King Leopold II in the 19th Century. Leopold looted small copper crosses, originally forms of currency made by a sect known as the 'copper eaters' that were shipped to Europe for industrial use. As a way of underlining the violence of the colonial act and its continuing contemporary enactment in the post-industrial context, Abonnenc has subjected several copper crosses, bought from private collectors to a process of recasting, with the help of a local foundry.

The resulting film is the first part of a wider body of work that takes Jacopetti and Propseri's notorious 1960 film Africa Addio as a starting point to discuss the imperial nostalgia embodied, not only by this film, but also by particular instances of modern art.

An Italian Film (Africa Addio) is showing concurrently as part of the contemporary art biennial Les Ateliers de Rennes, from 15 September - 9 December 2012.

Video Still: Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc, An Italian Film (Africa Addio), 2012

Preview: 4 October 6pm - late
Drinks served
RSVP admin@pavilion.org.uk

Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc In Conversation: 18 October, 6 - 7.30 pm
Tower Works Engine House

Tower Works
Globe Road, Leeds, LS11 5QG
Opening Times
Wednesday 12 pm - 7 pm
Thursday - Saturday 12 pm - 5pm

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