The artist Candice Lin lives in Los Angeles. In her work she shows: Colonial history* continues to have an effect in many areas to this day. For example, in these areas: goods that are sold all over the world, knowledge, language, beliefs, precious metals, spices, drugs.

Candice Lin has developed a new room-sized installation for the church of the Kunsthalle Osnabrück. Text, sculpture, drawing, ceramics and video will be brought together in equal measure. It tells of the effects of Christian missionary work up to the present day. [Missionary work means: Christians travelled to distant countries. They wanted the people in these countries to change their faith and become Christians too].
Candice Lin tells about George Psalmanazar. He was European and lived at the beginning of the 18th century. He pretended to be a native of Formosa. Formosa is now the country of Taiwan. George Psalmanazar wrote books about life in Formosa, about religion and about the everyday life of the people there. But he had made it all up.
Candice Lin’s installation is also about Yoga and QiGong. Today, both are trend sports that white people in Europe and the USA have adopted.
Candice Lin also reports on the outbreak of the plague in the city of Kaffa. [The plague is a very contagious and deadly disease.] The city is now in Crimea. The Mongols besieged the city in 1347. Some of the Mongol fighters fell ill with the plague. They shot the dead over the city walls of Kaffa. So that the people in the besieged city also died of the plague. This is commemorated by a 5-metre-high wooden catapult that hurls glitter bombs into the church hall. The catapult sets off a video in which a cat-being invites the visitors to a joint QiGong session. Materials such as gold, silver, copper and opium transform the Kunsthalle into an enchanted place. [This enchanted place promises healing, wealth and power. The inequality of power in history is playfully revealed.

*Colonial history means: Many countries in Europe used to think: Their inhabitants are worth more than the inhabitants in other countries. In Africa, for example. That is why they have the right to conquer these countries, to oppress and murder the people. They have determined the politics in these countries. And they have stolen many things from these countries. Art, for example. Spices. Raw materials. [Raw materials can be used to make other things. For example, oil or wood]. Or drugs.
The European countries found: All this is their right. They can make the people in the colonies work for them as slaves. They have the power over them. Until today, you can feel it in many places: You can still feel this history of oppression today. Power on earth is still distributed differently. To this day, bodies with light skin and bodies with dark skin are viewed and treated differently.

Candice Lin lives and works in Los Angeles. In 2018, she was appointed to the art faculty at the University of California Los Angeles. Her recent solo exhibitions include: Ludlow, New York (2019), Portikus, Frankfurt am Main, Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago (both 2018), Bétonsalon, Paris (2017), and Gasworks, London (2016). Lin has recently been involved in prominent group exhibitions, including the Made in LA Biennale (2018), Taipei Biennale (2018), and the upcoming Gwangju Biennale in Seoul and Prospect 5 Biennale (both 2021).

The exhibition is supported by the Niedersächsische Ministeriums für Wissenschaft und Kultur and the Stiftung Niedersachsen.