‘K Files’ by Tarek Al-Ghoussein at The Third Line

Currently on view at The Third Line Dubai is K Files, an exhibition by Tarek Al-Ghoussein. The works were first displayed as part of a two-person show at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013. This exhibition marks their first showing outside of the biennale. Al-Ghoussein has devised an installation of found objects, personal artifacts and newspaper clippings each of which reflect on the story of his family through public forums such as ebay.

For the Kuwait Pavilion, Al-Ghoussein produced a special body of work that continues his study of identity crises. Entitled National Works, the piece was in continuation of the larger archival sequence K Files documenting found material from family albums, antique shops, the Internet as well as other sources in a continual process. These performative photographs feature interactions between the artist and monumental sites in a deliberate attempt to track Kuwait’s development.

While these works certainly take on a personal narrative, Al-Ghoussein clearly refrains from direct political commentary. What the artist does do is take into account how the mergence of the public and the private have been pivotal in the shaping of his own life.

The Third Line is located in Al Quoz. Tel: +971 43411367 www.thethirdline.com