
"- There was this blind
man walking down the street...
- Ah...
- He was walking in Mercado, and it was damn hot! Midday,
you know, the sun was throwing shadows in the dust like
a magnifier in a piece of fresh wood. Very hot, very bright
day!
- Hmm...
- Now, this man had been blind since birth and... Suddenly,
the man can see! He can see, but only for a few seconds.
He's been walking inside this darkness, and then comes the
light, then boom... Black again. He couldn't believe his
eyes.
- Man, ... strange things can happen.
- Yes, and when this happened he just stopped. He stopped
right there, in the middle of the street and stared in front
of him. He saw what he saw...
- What did he see?
- How can he know? You know he was used to feel things with
his hands, like this... But what he did was he called for
help and a little girl came to him. And he told her, and
he moved his hands in front of him. He pointed down in front
of him and he asked the girl. - What is this? What is this
down here in front of me? And the girl said: - Ah, that...
you mean this? That is a cock.
- A cock?
- Yes. He saw the cock, but only for a few seconds.
- Hmm...
- Now this man, a few days later, he was invited to his
best friends wedding. Big wedding. Hundreds of guests, lot's
of meat and everybody got drunk. It was a great wedding.
And so late that night, the blind man sits down with his
friend and his friend is very happy. The groom is looking
at his wife dancing and he praises her beauty: - My woman
is like ripe fruit, he says with pride. Like dark raptures
of black wine, with a mouth that gives music too my mouth...
his friend told him proudly, and the blind man said:
- Does she look like a cock?"
Loulou Cherinet , Alegoria
kutasa, "Gagarin nr12"

"...that's a long story
you know. Because the black man's dream, all his life, is
to fuck a blonde. To go to bed with a white woman. It doesn't
matter if she's a Swede, an Italian or American or whatever...
- You are generalizing! No! Not all black men. There are
some black men who doesn't want to have...
- I agree with you. You should never generalize. There are
always exceptions.
-Yes, mm... one out of hundred."
Dialogue from video White Women 2002, a
story has no beginning or end,
African Sniper Reader

"Looking at the life of Loulou Cherinet,
we are immediately overwhelmed by a confused feeling; her
career seems stamped with the seal of doubt, exploration
and quest. What could appear at first sight to be instability
reveals itself, on closer examination, to be the sign of
a longing to control her artistic language. This becomes
obvious when you talk to her. The questions she asks herself
are not those of a poseur, but rather the questioning of
an artist who forever challenges truths that are too simple.
She is one of those beings who, all life long, ask themselves
questions on the validity of their art and the legitimacy
of their work. They are not aware that this ontological
questioning already constitutes part of the works, part
of the artist's 'trade'. Naturally, there are no rules.
There is however, this angst, this fundamental doubt, which
urges artists to explore, to look further and not to harbour
comfortable illusions. Artists cannot resort to lying. They
can lie to others, to the whole world, but for their work
to express itself for what it is, they cannot lie to themselves
for fear of admitting their incapacity to create; that is,
to take part in the Nietzschean celebration of God's death."
Simon Njami, from the catalogue, Biennale
of Sydney 2004

"A documentary and biographical
tone pervades in the works of Loulou Cherinet. They always
include actual people in more or less arranged situations.
She makes no secret of the fact that the situations in her
films and photos are constructed, but the difference between
reality and image is not that great. The actors in her films
always play themselves, even if the situation is arranged,
but it may not differ much from the situations and the parts
they - and the viewer - normally have in the social space."
Rodrigo Mallea Lira, Swedish Hearts, from
the catalogue

loulou cherinet
b. 1970, Göteborg, Sweden
1996 studied at the University of Fine Arts and
Industrial Forms , Addis Abeba
from 2001 studied at the Royal University Collage
of Fine Arts in Stockholm
from 2001 has lived and worked in Stockholm

selected solo exhibitions:
2006
Reparation, Husby Konsthall, Stockholm,
S
2004
Loulou Cherinet DANDELION, Halle für Kunst Lüneburg,
Lüneburg, D
2003
Loulou Cherinet, Yeans Göteborg, Göteborg, S
Next Flag, Espacio C, Camargo, E
2001
Identities, Galeria Asni, Addis Abeba, ETH
2000
The Dramatic Setting of 8 Painting, the University
of Fine Arts and Industrial Forms, Addis Abeba, ETH
1999
Fernj Series, the University of Fine Arts and Industrial
Forms , Addis Abeba, ETH
1994
Peintures, TIM Gallery, Jakarta, RI
selected group exhibitions:
2006
How to Live Together, 27th Biennial of Sao Paulo,
Sao Paulo, BR
Artifacts, Friluftmuseet Murberget, Härnösand,
S
Africa Remix, Mori Art Museum, Tokio, J
The Moderna Exhibition, Moderna Museet, Stockholm,
S
Ideal, Museum Anna Nordlander, Skelleftea, S
A Fiesta of Tough Choices, IASPIS, Stockholm, S
Främmande, Östergötlands Länsmuseum, Linköping,
S
2005
Masculinities, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin,
D
In Memory of Anna-Lisa Thomson, Uppsala, S
Pursuit of Happiness, Beyond Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht
/ Amsterdam, NL
Analogue Fictions, Istanbul Isveç Araºtirma Enstitüsü,
Istambul, TR
Monster, Länsmuseet pa Gotland, Visby, S
Frictions, Goethe Institute, Nairobi, EAK
Translocal, Möllans Köpcentrum, Malmö, S
ME, Centro Cultural Telemar, Rio de Janeiro, BR
Imagining the Book II Biennale, Bibliotheca Alexandrina,
Alexandria, ET
Emotion Pictures, MuHKA, Antwerp, B
The Healers, London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine, London, GB
AFRICA REMIX, Contemporary Art From a Continent,
Hayward Gallery, London, GB; Centre Pompidou, Paris, F
Videostafett, Gävle Konstcentrum, Gävle, S
E-FLUX Video Rental, 53 Ludlow Street, New York,
USA
4U, The Expomobile, touring exhibition, S
2004
HORISONTER. Voices From a Global Africa, Världskulturmuseet,
Göteborg, S
Minority Report: Challenging Intolerance in Contemporary
Denmark, Ridehuset, Aarhus, DK
AFRICA REMIX. Contemporary Art From a Continent,
Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, D
TEMPO. Documentary Festival, Zita, Stockholm, S
Svenska Hjärtan, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, S
On Reason and Emotion, Biennale of Sydney, Sydney,
AUS
Curator's Choice - Camouflage, Messe Frankfurt,
Frankfurt, D
Alien 3, W139, Amsterdam, NL
Ou sont les femmes?, Le lieu Unique, Nantes, F
2003
Rites sacré, rites profanes. Vemes recontres de
la photographie africaine, Bamako, Mali
OM... Storytelling in Contemporary Swedish Art,
Konstmuseum, Norrköping, S
The African Exile Museum, Migros Museum, Zurich,
CH
Costa Reis Compilacao de Arte Africana Actual,
CCASA Camouflage, Brussels, B
Liebe im Ausland, Kunstverein, Düsseldorf, D
Big City Small Village, Konstens Hus, Lulea, S
Es ist schwer das Reale zu berühren, Kunstverein,
Monachium, D
Arghh, Edsvik Art & Culture, Stockholm, S
L'Europe fantome, Galeria Vertebra, Brussels, B
Pip Show, Oslo, N
2002
OBSERVATORIO 1, CCASA Camouflage, Brussels, B
En direct de Bamako, Fnac Etoile, Paris, F
Made in Africa, Spacio Oberdan, Milan, I
2001
Memoires intimes d'un noveau millenaire, 4th Encounters
of African Photography, Bamako, Mali
2000
Off the Wall, Alliance Ethio-Francaise, Addis Abeba,
ETH
www.cherinet.com

bibliography
- The Allegory of The Cock. Loulou Cherinet,
"Gagarin" 12 / 2005, GAGAvzw.
- Next Flag - The African Sniper Reader - Eine Anthologie, Migros
Museum, Zurych 2005.
- Anders Olofsson, Galleri Mejan, Stockholm: Loulou Cherinet &
Mattias Fröberg (30/4 - 11/5), www.konsten.net, 2005.
- Karin Mansson, Videostafett lyckligt i mal, "Arbetarbladet",
2005.
Jessica Kempe, Ett seende kodat av kulturen, "Dagens Nyheter",
review 2005.
- Svenska hjärtan, Moderna Museet, Zurych 2004 (exhibition catalogue).
- Reasonemotion, Biennale of Sydney, Sydney 2004 (exhibition
catalogue).
- Catrin Lundqvist, Videokonstens väg in i vardagsrummet, "Konstperspektiv",
2004.
- OM, Riksutställningar, Stockholm 2004 (exhibition catalogue).
- Sonia Hedstrand, Fran svetsfogar till sex, vald och videoband,
"Dagens Nyheter", 2004.
- Arghh, Edsvik Art & Culture, Stockholm 2003 (exhibition
catalogue).
- Rites sacré / rites profanes. Vemés recontres de la photographie
africaine, 2003 (exhibition catalogue).
- Anders Sjögren, Svarta män och vita kvinnor, "Västerbotten
Kuriren", 2003.
- Hakan Nilsson, Övertygelser med finurlig spets, "Dagens
Nyheter", 2003.
- John Peter Nilsson, Fortfarande vet han inte vart hon tog vägen,
"Aftonbladet", 2002.
- Madeinafrica_Fotografia, Afritudine & Provincia di Milano,
Ferrara 2002 (exhibition catalogue).
- Mémoires intimesd'un noveau millénaire, IVemés recontres de
la photographie africaine, 2001 (exhibition catalogue).
- Mayra Paredes, buildings within buildings, "Capital",
2001.
- Indrias Getachew, Loulou Miriam Cherinet: off the wall, "Addis
Tribune" 2000.
- Asni gallery featuring lulu ones again, "Addis Tribune",
2000.
- Yos Nzal Sunaji, Melukis di kelengangan hutan, "Republika
Minggu", 1993.
- Jim Supangkat, Instalasi di reruntuhan, "Kompas",
1993.
- Memindahkan kegelisahan ke dalam tumpukan garis dan warna,
"Kumara Dewatasari", 1993.
- S. Malela Mahargasari, Menghela garis, mengendalikan emosi,
"Tempo", 1993.
[Translated by Ma³gorzata Sady]
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