Richard Mosse

Expo

27.06.2014

11.11.2014

Archive

The Enclave

With The Enclave, FoMu brings Richard Mosse's (IE, °1980) acclaimed multimedia installation to Belgium. Starting in 2010, Mosse made several trips to eastern Congo to capture on film the region's intractable spiral of war. Since 1998, this conflict has claimed the lives of 5.4 million people, yet goes relatively unreported in the mass media.

Richard Mosse documents armed rebel groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo using a type of infrared film that was originally developed by the military to detect camouflage. This now discontinued film registers infrared light and is characterised by its unusual colour palette of vivid pink and teal blue.

Mosse attempts to challenge traditional notions of war photography and confronts the viewer with a disorienting and physically immersive multimedia installation. The piece comprises six large screens with twelve point surround sound, creating a layered and kaleidoscopic experience, highly aestheticized yet firmly grounded in harsh reality.

It is a looping, non-linear narrative which documents civilians fleeing massacre, Mai Mai militia preparing for battle, as well as M23 rebels moving on, fighting for, and finally taking the city of Goma. This humanitarian disaster unfolds in a landscape of extraordinary beauty, on the shores of Lake Kivu.

For this project, Richard Mosse collaborated with the filmmaker Trevor Tweeten (US, °1983) and sound artist Ben Frost (AU, °1980). The Enclave represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale in 2013 and won the 2014 Deutsche Börse Prize.

Curator: Joachim Naudts