Farah Al Qasimi: Mother

21 Nov 2023 7.30-8.45pm

Overview

Explore the complex connections between oral history, spirituality and superstition in a digital age

Presented in Farah Al Qasimi’s display opening on 20 November at Tate Modern, this lecture-performance by the artist will unfold as a meditation on spirituality and superstition.

Al Qasimi’s work invites us to navigate the complex connections between oral history, truth and belief, and the lecture will animate the constellation of images on display with stories of haunting and possession.

Blurring geographic boundaries, the photographs surface the enigmatic 'in-between spaces' of immigrant communities in the U.S. and the overhang of colonial influence in West Asia which continues to inform notions of class and taste. The artist sharply captures the overwhelming effects of post-internet consumer culture through the dizzying colours, shimmering textures and multiple forms of image-making layered into her installation.  

Building on her horror-comedy titled Um Al Naar (Mother of Fire) 2019, which is a centrepiece of the Tate Modern display, this lecture-performance will continue to explore and investigate the spirits known as ‘jinn’ in Arabic, tracing the ways Al Qasimi mines the spiritual, ancestral past and reanimates it in the present.
 

Book now