Shezad Dawood: Leviathan - On Sunspots and Whales

Leviathan is an ambitious art project that examines urgent issues of the contemporary era. Through linkages with experts from different fields, it explores the connections among various contemporary issues that remain insoluble or not fully understood including climate change, marine welfare, democracy, migration, and mental health. Consisting of ten episodic narratives and corresponding films, the project incorporates sculptures, paintings, a dedicated website, research publications, and a public programme. The Barakat Contemporary exhibition is the third iteration of a world tour scheduled through 2021. With the contents subject to expansion as social incidents and issues arise, it is impossible to predict what transformations and developments the project will undergo.

 Shezad Dawood’s Leviathan: On Sunspots and Whales exhibition at Barakat Contemporary from 1st September to 4th November 2018 has undergone its own process of transformation through crossbreeding with Korean mythology and ancient art from the Barakat collection. We anticipate witnessing how the project will transform and expand as it encounters diverse experts and audiences in South Korea—an environment with a social backdrop and a culture differing from those of Europe, where the project first began.