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Cassius Fadlabi

Tirailleurs Senegalais, 2018
acrylic paint, mural; 300×670 cm


This new mural, created for Survival Kit 10, activates themes already present at the Riga Circus. A representation of the cosmonaut Laika, it fills the outside entrance to the Circus. From the streets of Moscow to international fame, Laika became the first dog in space flying aboard Sputnik 2. After she died hours into the flight due to overheating, Laika became a symbol of the ruthless Soviet pursuit of space flight as well as of triumph against all odds. In 2016, the Riga Circus decided to end the use of animals in circus performances after numerous protests demanding regulations against animal cruelty. The circus is a repurposed space — evidence that traditions can be reformulated for the greater good in societies that are open to change. Laika is in the centre of the painting surrounded by two Ethiopian angels that serve as a reminder about the ways that African Art paved the way for today’s euro-centric history of contemporary art. Tirailleurs Senegalais French for Senegalese Sharpshooters, is a sarcastic name given to the Senegalese soldiers by the French during World War I. They were not trained well enough and that resulted in them being terrible shooters. They were often sent first to test the might of the enemy before sending French soldiers to fight. Most of them died immediately.


Fadlabi is a Sudanese artist currently based in Oslo. Working across a variety of mediums, including painting, music, text, and performance, Fadlabi reflects on transcultural interactions and on historical wounds that are yet to be overcome. In 2008, Fadlabi founded One Night Only, an evening event series showing the work of one contemporary artist each Monday night. Together with Lars Cuzner, Fadlabi also created European Attraction Limited, a project addressing the history of exploitation towards people of colour in Norway, the full extent of which remains unrecognised. One of the masks obscuring this history is the perception of Scandinavian societies as more egalitarian, advanced, and socially progressive than those in southern Europe, which contributes to a lingering trace of national superiority. In his paintings, Fadlabi references postcolonial theory while seducing the viewer with culturally defunct frames of reference. Fadlabi currently runs the contemporary art space Khartoum together with Karin Erixon. Based in Oslo, it is a space in exile, a proxy location. Khartoum functions as a temporary home for the currently unrealisable dreams of the politically and economically unstable Outland.


Artist’s website: fadlabi.blogspot.com