Clemens von Wedemeyer’s film installations investigate the uncertain distinction between fact and fiction. His new commission for The Curve is composed of eight different film fragments, all referring to first contact between anthropologists, explorers and groups of people living in remote jungle locations who have never previously had contact with Western civilisation.
An example of such ‘first contact’ is that of the discovery of the Tasaday. First encountered by the West in 1971, this tiny ethnic group became an instant news story as a contemporary instance of Stone Age living. In the 1980s they were once again the subject of international press attention when anthropologists and journalists declared them a hoax. Since then, the Philippine government has declared them authentic but there are still people who believe their appearance was fabricated. Von Wedemeyer is fascinated by the question of whether the Tasaday’s performance in front of the world’s TV cameras was real or a piece of theatre. |
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Duration | 29 May 2009 - 30 August 2009 |
Times | Daily 11.00am – 8.00pm |
Cost | Free admission |
Venue | Barbican |
Address | Barbican Centre, Silk Street London EC2Y 8DS, , |
Contact | Main Switchboard: 020 7638 4141 / / www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=8903 |