Halaqat - Exploring cultural links between Europe and the Arab world
Inside the Gilded Cage: As part of the Halaqat project, visual artist Oussama Tabti presents his art installation 'Homo-carduelis' in Horta Hall until the end of January.
Through 30 empty birdcages, a choir of chirps, trills, silences, and warbles emanates. You can hear the song of the goldfinch or El Meknine in Algeria, where it has become a treasured companion. The bird grew to be a symbol of love and liberty, but its existence has become endangered and rhythmed by its domestication. While we sing of the finch's flight and beauty, have we become entrapped ourselves? A portrait of the willed mindlessness of the masses, of the ever-present disillusion of a life circumscribed by the iron cage of rationalization and self-indoctrination.
Oussama Tabti (Algeria, 1988) is a visual artist who lives and works in Brussels. His work questions hermetic geopolitics. In his own way he denounces the difficulty of moving in a world that is globalized but also suspicious, frightened by the 'stranger' and by difference.
The European project Halaqat is implemented by the Goethe-Institut in collaboration with Bozar - Centre for Fine Arts Brussels. Halaqat is co-funded by the European Commission (under the designation: EU-LAS CULTURE), the Goethe-Institut and Bozar.
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