Titled An Imperial Message after Franz Kafka’s short parable, the exhibition features around 40 pieces of work by the artist, among which more than 10 are newly created. Collectively, the works on view carve out an introspective journey, inviting audience to reflect upon the violence pervading the contemporary world we inhabit and confront our own profound feelings, fears, and desires. As Larys Frogier, Director of Rockbund Art Museum, puts: “Adel Abdessemed has a unique position in contemporary art, and the way he touches those who engage his works has virtually no equivalent. That effect lies in his unique use of raw, simple materials and words, as well as straightforward but very subtle fabrication of the image, but also in the way his works revisit some of the historical and theoretical assumptions in the contemporary arts.”