For his first institutional solo exhibition in German-speaking Switzerland, alfatih works across the six rooms of the former tax office on the second floor of the Kunsthaus, which was once the town hall. The building is built on water: the River Langete flows beneath it. Its historic flood protection system and regular flooding earned the town the nickname Little Venice. The setting of the exhibition thus reflects the tension between planning and order on the one hand, and unforeseen elements that threaten to undermine them on the other. This tension also forms the basis of alfatih’s new works, which have been created for the exhibition. Time Leaks is an investigation into the rules of games and what happens when their logic begins to falter.
To mark the occasion of alfatih‘s exhibition, a publication featuring numerous illustrations of his work and a texts by Marius Quiblier and Gary Zhexi Zhang. The book launch will take place on 6 May 2026 at 7 p.m. at the Kunsthaus Langenthal.
The exhibition is curated by Raffael Dörig, Director Kunsthaus Langenthal and Marius Quiblier, assistant curator Kunsthaus Langenthal.
alfatih (born 1997, Johannesburg) lives and works in Oslo. Having initially studied philosophy, alfatih translates abstract propositions into spatial and material realities. His practice spans sculpture, kinetic installation, and time-based media, often manifesting as complex systems that strictly adhere to their own internal rules until those rules reach a point of absurdity or collapse.
alfatih has presented works in institutions and spaces such as Kunsthaus Langenthal (CH); Inside-Out Art Museum (CN); CIRCUIT Contemporary Art Center (CH); MASI Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana (CH), Sentiment (CH), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Locle (CH); Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, Geneva (CH); Swiss Institute, New York (US); Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne (CH); Fri Art Kunsthalle, Fribourg (CH); Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneva (CH) and Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel (CH).
With the generous support of:
State of Fribourg
Ernst Göhner Stiftung
HMSL Stiftung
Pro Helvetia