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State of Qatarsis

 Posted on July 6, 2025      by arslohgo
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“State of Qatarsis”—the work commemorates the migrant workers who died during the construction of stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. It also draws attention to the existence of modern (wage) slavery and forced labor (not only in Qatar), which officially no longer exist in modern societies. The strategy of “panem et circenses” (bread and circuses) still works as it did in the ancient Roman Empire, albeit in a new guise. Major global events such as the World Cup serve as important distractions, uniting and entertaining a wide audience and often diverting attention from critical issues. As for the deaths directly related to the construction of stadiums for the World Cup in Qatar—37 deaths—officially, with the exception of three work accidents, there is no connection to the working conditions at the World Cup construction projects. However, based on studies, there is a reasonable assumption that the deaths were caused by heat stress.

The image title reflects the thematic framework. There are two possible interpretations: if you do not read/think of the last three letters, you get the official name of the country, Qatar State of Qatar. Including the ending ‘sis’, the letter sequence ‘Quatarsis’ is transformed into ‘catharsis’, and ‘state of catharsis’ can be translated into German as “Zustand der Katharsis” (state of catharsis). Catharsis is not to be understood in the conventional sense of Aristotelian poetics or psychoanalytic usage, but rather in a socially critical sense, i.e., in the sense of a cultural catharsis.

The background is a section of the Qatari desert. Set within this is an image of the Roman Colosseum as a reference to “panem et circenses” and as a metaphor for a World Cup stadium. The feet in chains incorporated into the scenario are an indication of wage slavery and forced labor. All photos used are freely available images from the worldwide web, which have been modified and combined into an overall concept.

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