Rheim Alkadhi: Templates for Liberation

11 Jun-8 Sep 2024

Overview

Templates for Liberation is now open for viewing in our Gallery. This is Rheim Alkadhi's first exhibition in the UK, addressing ongoing consequences of war and colonialism in present-day Iraq and the region at large.

Sculptures made from transport tarpaulins like those of cross-border industrial lorries line our main gallery's walls and floors. Alkadhi places them squarely in conversation with Britain’s colonial history in Iraq via an adjacent reading room entitled The Land and the People, which contains historic archival material contextualising Alkadhi's research practice, available for you to rifle through and interrogate. 

Alongside these records, Alkadhi introduces a speculative rebel element through photographic portraits. These portraits reclaim representation, envisioning unrecorded insurgencies by nonconforming women, racialised and ethnic minorities, workers, communists and others – creating a template for a future free from colonial violence.

Accompanying the exhibition Alkadhi has curated a film programme that provides other narratives of liberation, from Palestine to Oman, plus an insightful panel discussion. Don't miss this deeply moving and poignant exhibition – members go free.