Wu Tsang: The Big Lie of Death

The Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) is presenting a new site-specific installation by the award-winning artist and film-maker Wu Tsang (20 July–3 November). The artist’s works have included explorations of Moby-Dick and an installation, Anthem (2021), which involved the transgender singer and activist Beverly Glenn-Copeland performing spirituals in the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In a recent interview in the New York Times, Tsang said of her work, ‘“Beauty and pleasure are tools for us to create an atmosphere” and to “bridge the gap between humanity,” […] After a pause, she laughed and added, “Humanity is such a horrible word.”’ Housed in MACBA’s Gothic chapel, the Convent dels Àngels, La gran mentira de la muerte (‘The big lie of death’) (2024) is a film and multichannel sound installation that reimagines Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen (1875) and the tragic demise of its eponymous heroine. The work focuses in particular on the ritual of death and the theatrical qualities of flamenco and bullfighting. Find out more from MACBA’s website.

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Installation view of The big lie of death (2024), Wu Tsang. Photo: Miquel Coll; © the artist

Still from The big lie of death (2024), Wu Tsang. Photo: © Jaime Tuñón García; © the artist

Installation view of The big lie of death (2024), Wu Tsang. Photo: Miquel Coll; © the artist