“I always wanted to work in art but it was just not easy to be an artist who does not produce any objects, so I had to find my way somehow,” Sehgal once noted (Sgualdini, 2005). “I knew that I wanted to work with singing and spoken word because I found that their mode of producing—transforming actions—was politically interesting. I wanted to invest in these media on a craftsmanship level so that I could deal with them.” Sehgal’s work creates conditions between those enacting the work and the spatial situation where the work is presented and the visitors. For the duration of an exhibition, Sehgal’s players deploy sequences of movements, dance, sounds, chants and spoken language. Often, his pieces address the visitors directly, thereby altering viewing behavior of museum spectators and modalities of communication. Born in 1976, Sehgal studied political economics and dance at Humboldt University, Berlin and at Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen, Germany. He represented Germany at the Venice Biennale (together with Thomas Scheibitz) in 2005.

Solo exhibitions include: Centro Botin (with El Greco), Santander (2023); Remai Modern, Saskatoon (2022); Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig (2022); Special Project of Arte Fiera, Bologna (2022); Blenheim Art Foundation, Oxfordshire (2021); Tai Kwun, Hong Kong (2021); Odawara Art Foundation, Odawara (2019); MARe Museum of Recent Art, Bucharest (2020); Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg (2018); Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Stuttgart (2018); OGR Officine Grandi Riparazioni, Turin (2018); Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2017); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2016); Albertinum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden (2016); Djemaa El-Fna, Marrakech (2016);  Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2015); KIASMA, Helsinki (2015);  Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2015); Ullens Center, Beijing (2014); Pinacoteca, São Paulo (2014); CCBB, Rio de Janeiro (2014); Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montreal (2013); Tate Turbine Hall, London (2012); Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo (2011); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010); Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Villa Reale, Milan (2008); Magasin 3 Konsthall, Stockholm (2008); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2007); Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago; Wattis Institute, San Francisco (2007-2009); Museum Moderner Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt (2007); Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London (2007, 2006, 2005); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2006); Kunstverein Hamburg (2006); Serralves Foundation, Porto (2005) and Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2004).

Sehgal’s work is in the following collections: Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; FNAC, Paris; FRAC Rhône-Alpes, Lyon; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg; John Kaldor Family Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen; Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montreal; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate, London; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

In 2013, Sehgal was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennial. In 2016 the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart foundation awarded him the Hans Molfenter Prize.

The lecture will be held in English.

Sgualdini, Silvia: The Objectives of the Object, e-cart.ro (2005)