ABSENCED is a book series and performative art exhibition in which machines produce and represent the work of artists living in different geo-socio-political locations, realities, and circumstances. All participants were cancelled, censored, intimidated, punished, or suppressed before and after October 7th.

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.

Besides the exhibition and artistic video documentation, another project outcome will be a soft-cover book that compiles all the paper artwork sent during the exhibit.

With the rise of nationalism, populism, and right-wing governments and politics worldwide, our era is characterised by complex challenges significantly impacting the vitality of the cultural and artistic landscapes. The cumulative impact of the rise in cultural cancellation, artistic freedom violation, and freedom of movement limitation, restriction, or outright negation - paints a concerning picture of the future of arts and culture worldwide, particularly in Germany. Even though it has strong constitutional and legal protections for freedom of speech, artistic expression and a thriving contemporary art scene with ample funding for the arts, the German regime has reacted to any of the Palestinian’s solidarity movements with a series of censorships and repressive measures. This suppression, which reminds of the McCarthyism period, will affect the artists and deprive societies of the critical and diverse perspectives that art uniquely offers.

Artists, often without support systems or resources, courageously lead the fight for free expression, creation, challenge, imagination, and inspiration. They face unprecedented levels of censorship, legal repercussions, and threats to their safety for expressing their viewpoints or exploring contentious subjects. This dire situation necessitates a united effort from all stakeholders, including governments, cultural institutions, artists, and civil society, to create open, inclusive, and supportive environments where cultural and artistic expression can flourish without fear or hindrance.

ABSENCED responds to these challenges by creating a platform for artists to freely articulate themselves and their rights to ultimate freedom of expression. ABSENCE was the first edition of this series, while ABSENCED is the second.

The first presentation of ABSENCED was showcased as part of the “Routes of Resistance” exhibition series. This project was initiated by Fredrik Elg, the director of Safe Havens Freedom Talks, a non-profit NGO globally providing open platforms for human rights defenders in the arts. SH|FT facilitates the development of meeting places for diverse entities, including various organisations, groups, governmental and non-governmental institutions, individuals, and artists dedicated to defending the rights of persecuted creatives and academics. Routes of Resistance was four exhibitions coinciding in four cities promoting artistic freedom from intersectional global and local perspectives: Mexico City (curated by Sofia Carrillo Herrerias), Kampala (curated by Helga Rainer and Dr Kara A. Blackmore), Cape Town (curated by Bonita Bennett), and Malmö (curated by Khaled Barakeh). The project was funded by the Swedish Postcode Foundation.