Anna Boghiguian

10 rooms in Materials and Objects

A close observer of the human condition, Anna Boghiguian draws on the past and the present, poetry and politics to interpret our interconnected world

A chess game is very interesting because it deals with strategy. It also deals with music, with poetry and the development of thought.

Boghiguian is based in Cairo, Egypt but travels extensively across the world. These journeys bring knowledge of ancient and contemporary world cultures and politics to her work. Displayed here is her large-scale installation Institution vs. The Mass, as well as books she has made throughout her decades-long career.

Conceived as a dynamic chess set, Institution vs. The Mass builds on Boghiguian’s interest in the cycles of revolution and sociopolitical change throughout history. The figures of the ‘Institution’ evoke ancient and contemporary power structures that are distanced from the lives of everyday people. The ‘Mass’ is comprised of activists, demonstrators and thinkers aspiring towards fundamental human rights and freedoms. At a time when oppressive regimes that infringe upon individual freedoms are globally active, Boghiguian’s work highlights collective efforts to confront power. As the artist says, ‘I think there are always periods of great change – that human beings come to the ultimate point of dissatisfaction and frustration, and they want change’.

Each time the work is installed the pieces on the board can be rearranged, thereby re-shaping the power relations and the multiplicity of meanings the work can offer.

Boghiguian created the figures in encaustic, an ancient technique made by burning beeswax mixed with coloured pigments, giving the painted surfaces a living materiality. Reminiscent of the cut-out paper figures used for popular theatre and storytelling in various traditions, they link back to the books at the centre of Boghiguian’s practice.

Tate Modern
Natalie Bell Building Level 4 West
Room 9

Getting Here

Until 13 October 2024

Free

Anna Boghiguian, Institution vs. The Mass 2019

Institution vs The Mass 2019 is a large-scale multi-part installation that comprises a huge, hand-fabricated chess set and a checkerboard floor of alternating mirrored and black aluminium tiles with a map of the world painted on its surface. As in a true chess set, there are thirty-two pieces in total, sixteen for each opponent. One side of the chess set represents the ‘Institution’ and the other the ‘Masses’, who are protesting against the Institution. The two-dimensional figures are all life-size or bigger, measuring between 175 centimetres and 230 centimetres, and are painted in encaustic on paper, glued to plywood cut-outs. These are hung over the chessboard from metal cables in the ceiling. The composition of the two sets of pieces illustrates how historical systems of control persist in the present and interrogates the ability of social movements to facilitate change. The viewer is immersed in a world created by the artist, oscillating between history and reality on one hand, and the surreal and imaginary on the other.

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