The Kunstverein in Hamburg, a contemporary art museum in Germany, said on Friday that part of an installation by artist Phoebe Collings-James that references Palestine was vandalized in what the institution described as a “politically targeted” act.
The site-specific work, red earth, blood earth, blood brother earth [kick dirt] (2024), was commissioned for the group exhibition “In and Out of Place. Land after Information 1992–2024,” which opened in September. On Instagram, the museum said that an unidentified visitor had specifically targeted a portion of the installation that included the word “Palestine.” Further details about the extent of the vandalism or required repairs were not disclosed.
The Kunstverein condemned the act, calling it “politically motivated” vandalism. German authorities are investigating the incident as a potential hate crime, the museum said.
Collings-James, a London-born multidisciplinary artist, produces installations that incorporate ceramics, painting, and sound, often referencing histories of colonialism and drawing ties to the broader Black diaspora.
The large-scale installation references Aimé Césaire’s book-length poem Return to My Native Land (1939). For the installation, Collings-James covered one of the museum gallery’s floors with pink dried clay slip. The artist then etched the clay with drawings and phrases, and adorned it with black ceramic roses and references to Palestine, Haiti, Sudan, and Congo. In an interview with FAD, Collings-James described the sculpted flowers as tributes to these countries, with the artist saying that they wanted to “lay a rose for them.”
Collings-James has not yet responded to ARTnews’s request for comment. This story is developing.
