That place of familiarity that holds and hurts.
Part one: Jamila Prowse and Mekdes W Shebeta.
October 2021
Curation
Part two: Hanan Benemmar, 2022.
Read publication here.
That place of familiarity that holds and hurts is an exhibition in two parts, showing the work of three artist who are searchers, invited by another artist who is also a searcher.
The exhibition turns to three artists that ask the deeply human questions that frighten us, those that sit there, proudly and without a tidy answer. And for many of us, belonging is the most frightening unanswered question. Belonging, our roots, our home, all question who we are and where we are going. Home is that place from which we can safely reach out, that place we can settle and learn to know ourselves. My godfather said to me once: Home is where your toothbrush is. When I get lost that thought gives some comfort but whether we are voyagers or stay-at-homes, belonging is an answer we all search for. Jamila Prowse, Mekdes W Shebeta and Hanan Benammar search for that answer too, maybe because, like me, they have been asked “where do you come from?” when they thought they were at home already.
Part one: Jamila Prowse and Mekdes W Shebeta.
October 2021
Curation
Part two: Hanan Benemmar, 2022.
Read publication here.
That place of familiarity that holds and hurts is an exhibition in two parts, showing the work of three artist who are searchers, invited by another artist who is also a searcher.
The exhibition turns to three artists that ask the deeply human questions that frighten us, those that sit there, proudly and without a tidy answer. And for many of us, belonging is the most frightening unanswered question. Belonging, our roots, our home, all question who we are and where we are going. Home is that place from which we can safely reach out, that place we can settle and learn to know ourselves. My godfather said to me once: Home is where your toothbrush is. When I get lost that thought gives some comfort but whether we are voyagers or stay-at-homes, belonging is an answer we all search for. Jamila Prowse, Mekdes W Shebeta and Hanan Benammar search for that answer too, maybe because, like me, they have been asked “where do you come from?” when they thought they were at home already.
About That place of familiarity that holds and hurts: Part one
The first part of That place of familiarity that holds and hurts will show work by Jamila Prowse and Mekdes W Shebeta. The second part of the exhibition, taking place in 2022, will show work by Hanan Benammar.
The exhibition will premiere the first moving image work and installation by artist, curator and writer Jamila Prowse. An Echo For my Father is catalysed by the artist’s curiosity about her late father Russell Herman, a South African jazz musician, who passed away when Jamila was three. Herman was born and raised in District Six, Cape Town and grew up during Apartheid, later migrating to the UK in the 1980s. Prior to entering research and production on the project, Jamila knew very little about her father and so the artist takes the viewer along on a journey of self and intergenerational discovery.
Mekdes W Shebeta fills the main gallery space with a new work called NEW BLUE an installation and participatory performance comprised of physical constructions, drawn images, workshops, audio recordings and text. The work weaves together themes of spiritual wisdom, alternative communication and surviving migration. Mekdes has built three large scale tents: two of them are physical tents, built from yellow plastic and red fabric. The third tent, in blue, is an invitation to the audience to collectively describe that place of peace and clarity.
The first part of That place of familiarity that holds and hurts will show work by Jamila Prowse and Mekdes W Shebeta. The second part of the exhibition, taking place in 2022, will show work by Hanan Benammar.
The exhibition will premiere the first moving image work and installation by artist, curator and writer Jamila Prowse. An Echo For my Father is catalysed by the artist’s curiosity about her late father Russell Herman, a South African jazz musician, who passed away when Jamila was three. Herman was born and raised in District Six, Cape Town and grew up during Apartheid, later migrating to the UK in the 1980s. Prior to entering research and production on the project, Jamila knew very little about her father and so the artist takes the viewer along on a journey of self and intergenerational discovery.
Mekdes W Shebeta fills the main gallery space with a new work called NEW BLUE an installation and participatory performance comprised of physical constructions, drawn images, workshops, audio recordings and text. The work weaves together themes of spiritual wisdom, alternative communication and surviving migration. Mekdes has built three large scale tents: two of them are physical tents, built from yellow plastic and red fabric. The third tent, in blue, is an invitation to the audience to collectively describe that place of peace and clarity.
