'Shooting Back presents a selection of works by international artists, most drawn from the collection of Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, which share a fundamental interest in ethnographic research, folklore, rituals, and spirituality, as well as in exposing alternative histories and acts of commemoration.The title Shooting Back thus refers to the act of choosing to narrate one’s own history, the deployment of distinctive tools and methods of representation, and the reassertion of ownership over tradition and heritage. 

The expression is derived from ethnographic film productions of the 1960s and ensuing investigations. As artists, filmmakers, and theoreticians have developed new languages to talk about their traditions, heritage, and identities, they have in turn "shot back" at the crude, stereotypical, and fictitious imagery of their respective cultures presented by mainstream media and scholarship. 

At the same time the expression "shooting back" marks the shift from passive forms of representation to new modes of self-representation. On an artistic level this has been addressed through the conscious investigation of overlooked, erased, and precarious histories. In order to approach such “elusive” realities, artists deploy strategies of reconstruction, archiving, and (performative) actualization and often access an immaterial heritage that is committed to forms of knowledge and culture that are already inscribed into history.' (http://www.tba21.org/program/exhibitions/10/page_2?category=exhibitions)

This publication is produced in conjunction with the titled exhibition. Essays by critics and scholars, together with images and explanatory remarks by participating artists are available.
Access level

Onsite

practitioner
Location code
EX.AUS.SHB
Language

English

Publication/Creation date

2007

No of pages

127

ISBN / ISSN

3950206426

No of copies

1

Content type

catalogue

Chapter headings

Except from An Interview with Hashem El Madani

Sean Synder - Charles ESCHE

Les travailleurs n'ont pas de patrie - Mira KERATOVA

The Beauty of Exactitude. Talk about Ethnographic film between Ahmad Alasti and Michael Oppitz - Michael OPPITZ

Shooting Back
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In Copyright

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This item is covered by one or more copyrights. It is available for research only or use within Hong Kong’s fair dealing rules. Please do not copy, re-use or reproduce this item without the permission of the copyright holder.

Shooting Back