Semâ Bekirović: For Every Atom…

Starting April 28, 2024, the Fries Museum will show the solo exhibition For Every Atom… with recent and older work by Semâ Bekirović (1977, Amsterdam). Much of her work is made in collaboration with unsuspected artists, such as trees, the wind, animals, plants, time and other organisms and processes. Bekirović's work is therefore about the question of when something becomes a work of art, about the status and position of the maker and about authorship.

In her work, Semâ Bekirović plays with the supposed contradictions between the world in the museum and the world outside. In particular, she is concerned with the creative process, in which not only the hand of the artist is decisive, but also an endless number of external conditions. For example, the first part of the exhibition shows work that was created in collaboration with artists such as coots and wild boars, but also with the wind and the magnetic north of our planet. The second part consists of a presentation curated by Bekirović with works by non-human artists. These artists have used objects from the human domain as materials for their art, such as a nest made of coat hangers or a buoy covered in barnacles. Thus we see that it is not only humans who interpret nature, but that we are also subject to its interpretation. The exhibition is supplemented with several works from the collection of the Fries Museum on which time, animals and other forces have left their mark. The graphic design is in the hands of Jan-Pieter Karper.

About the artist
Semâ Bekirović studied at the Rietveld Academy and was a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in 2005-2006. Her work has been exhibited in various places, including Rozenstraat – a rose is a rose is a rose (solo, 2023); The Hayward Gallery, (solo, 2010); The Stedelijk Museum (2007, 2013, 2015); Dutch Culture Institute, Shanghai (2010); MoMa PS1 (2012); Kunstfort Vijfhuizen (2016); Marres (2017); Nest (2018); G.E.M. (2019); Garage Rotterdam (2020); Klub Solitaer, Chemnitz (solo, 2020); Into Nature Biennale; Paltz Biennale and the Bruges Triennale (all in 2021). The upcoming exhibition in the Fries Museum is Bekirović's first museum retrospective since her exhibition in Museum Jan Cunen in 2013.

Exhibition guide
An exhibition guide will be published with the exhibition, which will subsequently be processed with forensic fingerprint powders, making all traces of visitors who have held the booklet visible. The used specimens are therefore unique 'works of art' that are offered in the museum shop and will thus continue their way into the wide world.

Art route through the city
You will also find plenty of works of art outside the walls of the Fries Museum. Follow this route through Leeuwarden and discover the work of unsuspected artists!

This exhibition is made possible by the Mondriaan Fund, Fonds 21, the Niemeijer Fund Foundation and the Jaap Harten Fund.

The Fries Museum is partly financed by Windpark Fryslân, the Province of Fryslân, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the VriendenLoterij, Ir. Abe Bonnema Foundation and the friends of the Fries Museum.