Animierte Körper
Latefa Wiersch presents her exhibition "Atlas Studios" at the Istituto Svizzero in Rome, featuring unsettling, puppet-like sculptures that resemble film sets. The works explore themes of bodily helplessness, imperfection, and geopolitical displacement, drawing on her earlier project "Hannibal" at the Dortmunder Kunstverein, which addressed post-migrant German realities and the demolition of a housing complex. The new installation references the Atlas Studios in Ouarzazate, Morocco, and the history of cinema, with figures made from rags and nylon stockings that appear as actors or set workers.
The exhibition matters because it connects personal history with broader political narratives, using the uncanny power of puppets to critique how bodies—especially migrant and post-colonial bodies—are treated along geopolitical fault lines. By linking Rome's Cinecittà to Morocco's Atlas Studios, Wiersch exposes the Orientalist and fantastical storytelling in film, while her visible seams and imperfections in the sculptures challenge idealized representations. The show continues a conversation about housing, migration, and the politics of representation that resonates across European and North African contexts.