Mansour Ciss
area: Conceptual Art, Media Art
Key Facts
nationality
Senegalarea
Conceptual Art, Media Artresidence
Berlin (GER)recommending institution
freiraum quartier21 INTERNATIONALtime period
August 2014 - August 2014In 2001, Mansour Ciss founded, together with Baruch Gottlieb and Christian Hanussek, the „Laboratoire de Déberlinisation“, an art project that understands itself as a contribution to the North-South dialogue and which aims to stimulate debate on the post-colonial conditions in Africa. Recent projects of the conceptual and media artist include the „Global Pass“, a fictitious travel document which is valid for all human beings; the project „Afro“, a fictitious common currency for all African states, for which he was awarded the first prize of DakART – Biennial for Contemporary African Art in 2008.
Most recently, Mansour Ciss Kanakassy exhibited in various cities in Germany, among them at the ZKM Karlsruhe. Internationally his works were shown recently at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels as well as at the 5th Beijing International Art Biennale.
AFRO-Bank 2014
Construction of a Panafrican AFRO-Bank branch of the „Laboratoire de Déberlinisation“, built from 160 euro pallets. The branch also functions as a store for „postcolonial goods“. The place is designed to look like a very special branch bank – equipped with a counter like a „Flagship Store“ („Brand-Temple“), in which special „Post-Colonial goods“ explain the message. The store has a political and historical significance, combined with the request to tell colonial and postcolonial stories.
The message of AFRO and the „Laboratoire de Déberlinisation“ will be explained with the artist’s posters and videos on the walls. The main topic of the AFRO bank branch is the „Currency of Hope“. The whole presentation is an artistic appropriation of the multidisciplinary approach and the esthetics of the banking business. In this case, we offer the AFRO-currency as a symbol of postcolonial emancipation of the African continent.
For „Laboratoire de Déberlinisation’s” 15th anniversary, Mansour Ciss Kanakassy will build a store at freiraum quartier21 INTERNATIONAL/MQ bauen. After being presented in Dakar, Sakrow, Vienna, Berlin, Bruxelles, and Paris, the „Laboratoire“ will be shown again in Vienna.