LOCATION: Sofia Albertina Church MAP The church is open daily from noon until 4pm
In a series photographic collages, Donja Nasseri devotes herself to queer-feminist strategies of gender diversity by referencing ancient Egyptian deities and rulers. In a collage printed on textile, fragments of the androgynous pharaoh Akhenaten‘s feminine-looking body features can be discerned. Another shows fragments from statues of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut, who claimed a masculine role, including physical features such as an attached beard. The powerful repositioning of both rulers was met with iconoclastic destruction after their deaths; some artefacts are difficult to identify because of their ambivalent gender characteristics.
Nasseri’s work is primarily based on photography as a ¨carrier of memories¨ in which changes in tradition, culture and (gender) identity make up the conceptual core. She seeks to provoke critical reflection on narratives that shape our understanding of identity, trauma and disruption by reaching out to repressed communities and recognizing the importance of amplifying marginalized voices. As the German-born daughter of an Afghan father and an Egyptian-German mother, she has a sharp view on the diversity of possible narrations and the truths associated with them.
Donja Nasseri was born in Düsseldorf, where she still lives and works today. She studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and the Kunstakademie Münster. Her work has been awarded with numerous prizes.
