Adrian Schindler
Périgueux, 1989. Lives between Barcelona and Madrid.
Notes for an Eye Fire exhibition views. Photo: Miquel Coll
Adrian Schindler’s installation centres on the first chapter of a collectively realised experimental film trilogy.
Shot in Barcelona, it traces, and attempts to resignify, the contemporary spectres of Spain’s colonization of Morocco, while pointing out the ideological background, in which the figure of the Moor has been invested with racist attributes in popular culture.
The film draws attention to the different roles involved in its making, both in front of the camera and behind it, while reflecting on public monuments, works of art, and literature. It unfolds through readings, conversations and improvisations informed by the personal experiences of its collaborators, including the researchers Salma Amzian and Itzea Goikolea-Amiano, the actors Abdel Aziz El Mountassir and Ali el Aziz, and the singer Rita El Jebari. One sequence stages an encounter with the Orientalist myth-making of Marià Fortuny’s painting La batalla de Tetuan (1863–1865) at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, while a scene filmed in Plaça de Tetuan draws on the circular Arabic storytelling form known as the halqa.
Making of
Photos: Latitudes and Hiuwai Chu
About Adrian Schindler
Adrian Schindler’s practice is rooted in performance, ethics and the archive. It often confronts uncomfortable historical narratives while attempting to learn from the experiences of others without objectifying them. Archiv Familie Leder (2016–2018) considered letters and photographs by his great-grandfather, who served in the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, through reading, video and public encounters. His current research concerns the legacy of European colonialism in Morocco and the pervasive Orientalist stereotypes of the Moor, especially in recent cinema. The installation Trajeron a mis playas un mundo entre las garras del león (2019), created with a group of secondary-school students in Barcelona, looked at how the Spanish protectorate in Morocco (1912–1956) was foreshadowed by the symbolism of three public sculptures. The performance Espectros de Marruecos (2020) drew on actor Ali el Aziz’s experiences of being typecast as it wove together voices, gazes and historical counter-positions, including excerpts from pamphlets campaigning against the Rif War (1921–1926).
Adrian Schindler studied at the Beaux-Arts de Paris (2012) and the Universität der Künste Berlin (2015). He has often worked as a duo with Eulàlia Rovira and has had exhibitions and events at Fabra i Coats: Centre d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (2021); Centre d’art Le Lait, Albi (2020); Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya, Sant Cugat (2020); and El Born CCM, Barcelona (2019). He has been an artist-in-residence at Casa de Velázquez, Madrid (2020–2021); Château Nour, Brussels (2020); and Mahal Art Space, Tangier (2019). adrianschindler.com
