Once Again... (Statues Never Die) at Mudam, Luxembourg

Isaac Julien's latest work Once Again... (Statues Never Die) will be exhibited at Mudam in Luxembourg as part of the wider group exhibition, A Model. 

In Once Again… (Statues Never Die) (2022), a five-screen black-and-white film installation exploring the legacies of the philosopher, critic and art historian Alain Locke and African art collector Albert Barnes, whose collection inspired both Locke and the Harlem Renaissance artists, Julien reimagines Locke’s relationship and correspondence with Barnes.

Drawing on Julien’s extensive research in the archives of the Barnes Foundation, the film explores the reciprocal impact of Alain Locke’s political philosophy and cultural organizing activities, and Albert E. Barnes’s pioneering art collecting and democratic, inclusive educational enterprise.

The film installation is accompanied by a series of sculptures from different periods, from traditional African objects to the bronze 'Black Madonna,' by artist of the Harlem Renaissance, Richmond Barthé.

A Model is an exhibition that proposes a reflection on the role of the museum at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It reaffirms the need to think of the institution as a living place, sensitive and receptive to contemporary debates. A Model considers the possibilities that arise when museum collections are reimagined as active and performative environments. A Model brings together more than thirty artists, some to conceive new commissions, some inspired by and in dialogue with works from the collection. And A Model wants to start a conversation about the museum you would like Mudam to be.

Once Again... (Statues Never Die) is on view at Mudam, Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art February 9 - September 8 2024