Absenced

THE MORE YOU SILENCE PEOPLE, THE LOUDER THEY BECOME

ABSENCED is a performative art exhibition curated by artist and activist Khaled Barakeh in which machines produce and represent the work of artists who were all cancelled, censored, intimidated, punished, or suppressed in Europe for expressing their solidarity with Palestine. The exhibition was on view at Reykjavik City Library 15th – 25th May 2025.

Now you can also see a smaller version of the exhibition – photographs, texts and the bookwork at The Nordic House in Reykjavík. Welcome Tue-sun 10 am – 5pm.

The participants are Adam Broomberg (artist), Anti Story (anonymous art project), Bastardilla (street artist), Daniela Ortiz (artist), Ghayath Almadhoun (poet), Halima Aziz (artist), Hamja Ahsan (artist, writer, and curator), John Keane (professor), Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck (artist & cultural practitioner), Liad Hussein Kantorowicz (artist, musician, and feminist activist), Phoebe Walton (architect and designer – Forensic Architecture), Raphaël Malik (photographer), ruangrupa (artists’ initiative and curators), Shahidul Alam (photographer), Taring Padi (artists collective), and Tinne Zenner (artist and filmmaker).

Curator Khaled Barakeh (conceptual artist, activist, and cultural manager)

Each participant sent around thirty regular A4 office papers from their geographical locations. They employed drawings, texts, sketches, collages, photographs, or any art form that conveyed their unique perspectives. In the library, sixteen printers were mounted in the atrium at different heights, and the sixteen participants’ contributions were constantly printed during the exhibition period. The printed papers/artworks fell from above, mimicking a tactic the Israeli army uses to scare or “warn” Palestinians.