The Face and Its Contents

Description: The Face and Its Contents weaves together a historical fiction piece written by the artist with archival photographs and documents to explore the relationship between image-making and historical silence. At its core is sculptor Georg Kolbe’s time in Istanbul from 1916 to 1917, situated within the social milieu of the Imperial German Embassy during World War I. Tracing Kolbe’s commissions through personal correspondence, photographic fragments and official records, the work asks how artistic practice becomes entangled with organized violence, not only through explicit ideological commitment but also through professional ambition and social proximity. By attending to busts sculpted by Kolbe, The Face and Its Contents examines the complicity of artistic production in the structures and aesthetic operations of empires.

Image Description: Exhibition views, Tea and Dry Biscuits, Georg Kolbe Museum, 2025. Photo: Enric Duch.