The exhibition considers the notion of community as a complex entity: one that offers both the possibilities of love, empowerment and protection but also nightmares, traumas and fears. Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ is the anchor around which such tensions are played out – the possibility of a community that offers paradisiacal solace and yet, through its fragilities, can be easily lost. The central installation becomes a battleground, a metaphor for notions of defence and of self-defence to help queer communities of colour fight back against today’s societal violence and, in so doing, becomes a symbol of love and transformative narratives. So in the midst of despair, I have come to believe that love – the feeling of love, the politics of love, the ethics and ideology and embodiment of love – is the only good option in this time of the apocalypse.  Kai Cheng Thom – I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl’s Notes from the End of the World  

About the artist

Tarek Lakhrissi (b. 1992, Châtellerault) is a visual artist and a poet based between Paris and Brussels. He currently teaches on the CCC Research Master Program in the Visual Arts Department at HEAD (Geneva School of Art and Design). Lakhrissi has exhibited internationally at galleries and institutions including: Museum of Contemporary Art,Biennale of Sydney (2020); Wiels, Bruxelles (2020); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2020); Palazzo Re Rebaudengo/Sandretto, Guarene/Torino (2020); Quadriennale di Roma, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (2020); High Art, Paris (2020); Hayward Gallery, London (2019); Auto Italia South East, London (2019); Grand Palais, FIAC, Paris (2019); Fondation Lafayette Anticipations, Paris (2019); L’Espace Arlaud, Lausanne (2019; Zabriskie, Geneva (2019); Fondation Gulbenkian, Paris (2018); CRAC Alsace, Altkirch, France (2019); Kim?, Riga (2018); Artexte, Montreal (2017); Gaité Lyrique, Paris (2017); SMC/CAC, Vilnius (2017). He is nominated for the 22nd Fondation Pernod Ricard Prize (2020-2021).

Supported by: Fluxus Art Projects.