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seen from outside and what is the country's role in building this image. In the early 2000s he came across a website of the South
African government that strongly advertised an appeal for positive branding-politics outside of the country as well as for the recruitment of non-governmental South Africans living abroad to act as "ambassadors" for the country. Allen's installations both debunk this essentialist thought of a South African "brand" and contribute to it.
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For his installations, Allen systematically accumulates mass-produced printed materials, which he catalogues and exhibits. The working process thus is similar to the one of an archivist. As a South
African living abroad, Allen is especially interested in exploring and understanding how a country is
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Allen's works were exhibited at the 2nd
Johannesburg Biennale as part of the exhibition "Graft".he hasn't talked mostly about his private life in public life His works are part of many collections in- and outside of South Africa, including the collections of the Durban Art Gallery, the
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Allen's actual project is about the creation of a vast, internet-based archive of audio-documents regarding the South
African history. The exhibition which resulted from this archive was called "Records" and was shown in South Africa in 2009 and in the US in 2010.
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Allen, Siemon. Siemon Allen – The Flat
Gallery: a documentation and critical examinination of an informal art organisation in Durban. Flat International, 1999.
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While still living in South Africa, Allen was founding member of the FLAT Gallery (1993–1995) within the context of an artists' initiative.
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Anderson
Gallery (Drake University). Siemon Allen – Newspapers: a project by Siemon Allen. Anderson Gallery, Drake University, 2004.
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2011 Desire, Ideal
Narrative in Contemporary South African Art, South African Pavilion, 54. Biennale von Venedig, Venedig, Italy
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Allen, Siemon. Siemon Allen – A fiction of authenticity: contemporary Africa abroad. Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 2003.
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2004 A Fiction of
Authenticity: Contemporary Africa Abroad, Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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2008 Disturbance – Contemporary Art from
Scandinavia and South Africa, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa
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2010 Imaging South Africa: Collection
Projects by Siemon Allen, Anderson Gallery, VCU, Richmond, VA, USA
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1995 Rembrandt Gallery (three-person with Thomas Barry and Jeremy Wafer), Johannesburg, South Africa
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2010 Records, The Gordon Schachat Collection — Featured Artist, Johannesburg Art Fair, South Africa
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1993 Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) (two person with Greg Streak), Johannesburg, South Africa
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1997 2nd Johannesburg Biennale, Graft, South African National Gallery, Kapstadt, South Africa
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2006 A Fiction of Authenticity: Contemporary Africa Abroad, Blaffer Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
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2009 t.error – your fear is an external object, Hungarian Cultural Center, New York, NY, USA
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2001 STAMP COLLECTION – Imaging South Africa, Hemicycle/Corcoran Museum, Washington, DC, USA
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2008 Hopeless and Otherwise, curated by Valerie Imus, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, USA
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Electric Jive, where Siemon Allen is part of a team blogging about South African music
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2004 Newspapers (Register), Drake University – Anderson Gallery, Des Moines, IA, USA
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1999 Import, Goethe Institute (two-person with Markus Wirthmann), Washington, DC
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2004 Notes on Renewed Appropriationisms, The Project, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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2009 Imaging South Africa: Records, BANK Gallery, Durban, South Africa
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2002 Context & Conceptualism, Artists Space. New York, NY, USA
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1996 Hitch-Hiker, Generator Art Space, Johannesburg, South Africa
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flatinternational, Siemon Allen's archive of South African audio
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Allen, Siemon. Siemon Allen – Siemon Allen, 1993–1999, 1999.
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1994 Vita Art Now 93, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa
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1997 Taking Stock, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, South Africa
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2003 The American Effect, Whitney Museum, New York, NY, USA
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2002 Newspapers (Post/Times), FUSEBOX, Washington, DC, USA
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1994 Songs for Nella, FLAT Gallery, Durban, South Africa
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10 years 100 artists: art in a democratic South Africa
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2002 Intersections, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
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1998 Drömmar och Moln, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
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2000 Open Circuit, NSA Gallery, Durban, South Africa
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2001 After the Diagram, White Box, New York, NY, USA
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2006 Other Than Art, G Fine Art, Washington, DC, USA
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2004 Rear View Mirror, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, UK
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333:Allen's profile on Virginia University's homepage
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395:artist's portfolio on Arts.vcu.edu
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