Alia Farid: Elsewhere

Elsewhere is a major commission and the first solo exhibition in the UK by Alia Farid. Working in film, sculpture, and textile, Farid traces histories often marginalised or obscured by the Global North. In her artworks, communities, local practices and traditions are reconsidered, giving the rhythms of everyday life political significance and potency.

Sixteen hand-woven and embroidered rugs span the length of the gallery. Drawing from photographs, archival material and interviews with local people, the works detail cityscapes—buildings, shop fronts and adverts—that conjure the presence of the Palestinian diaspora in Puerto Rico. Pharmacies and restaurants, owned and operated by Palestinians, are woven alongside brightly coloured mosques and a menu detailing ‘Arabic cuisine’.

The result of a close collaboration with weavers in Samawa, southern Iraq, the textiles have been crafted through a combination of flat weaving and chain stitching specific to the region. Architecture, script (Arabic and Spanish) and traditional woven motifs recur throughout, illuminating how migration from one region in the Global South to another, brings forth new meanings, forms and expressions of shared struggle and solidarity. Hanging in two parallel rows, the installation creates panoramic views, and a layering of lived history and daily routine.

Elsewhere is a growing material archive that traces the ways styles, symbols, rituals and other social devices coalesce across continents. It is the first chapter of an ongoing research project, initially conceived in 2013, which maps Arab and South Asian migration to Latin America and the Caribbean. Other sites of investigation include Trinidad, Cuba and Mexico. In this accumulative and iterative process, Elsewhere marks one crossroads on an intricate map.

Events
Tour: Saturday, December 2, 11am–12pm
A walkthrough of Elsewhere with Alia Farid and curator Olivia Aherne.

Talk: Friday, December 8, 7–9pm
Scholar Maru Pabón presents ongoing research into the poetics of solidarity. In partnership with The Mosaic Rooms.

Reading group: Thursday, January 18, 2024, 7–9pm
A reading group led by curator and researcher Odessa Warren.

Performance: Thursday, February 1, 7–8pm
A live performance by artist Joe Namy responding to Elsewhere.

All events are free to attend, but booking is essential. Please visit chisenhale.eventbrite.co.uk.

We are committed to ensuring our events are accessible for all. Please contact mail@chisenhale.org.uk to discuss any access needs. We will endeavour to meet all requests where possible. Please be advised that requests should be made two weeks in advance of the event.

Biography
Alia Farid lives and works in Kuwait and Puerto Rico. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from la Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico (San Juan), a Master of Science in Visual Studies from the Visual Arts Program at MIT (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and a Master of Arts in Museum Studies and Critical Theory from the Programa d’Estudis Independents, MACBA (Barcelona). Selected exhibitions include: In Lieu of What Is, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland (2022); Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2022); Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora 1990s—Today, MCA Chicago, Chicago (2022); Alia Farid: At the Time of the Ebb, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art (WAM), Turku, Finland (2021);10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, Brisbane (2021); Alia Farid, Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2020); Yokohama Triennale 2020, Afterglow, Yokohama, Japan (2020) In Lieu of What Was, Portikus, Frankfurt/Main (2019); Between Dig and Display, Galerie Imane Farès, Paris (2017). Farid received The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award in 2023, is nominated for the Artes Mundi 10 Prize, and is currently the David and Roberta Logie Fellow at Harvard Radcliffe Institute (2023-2024).

Elsewhere is produced by Chisenhale Gallery, London, and commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery; Passerelle Centre d'art contemporain, Brest; The Power Plant, Toronto; and Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna.

Elsewhere is produced with support from the Chisenhale Gallery Commissions Fund. The wider research project is largely supported by the Creative Capital Award.

Lead Supporter: The London Community Foundation and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts

Headline Supporters: Erica Roberts and Maria Sukkar. With additional support from the Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter and the Chisenhale Gallery Commissions Fund. 

Chisenhale Gallery’s Public Programme 2023 is supported by the Talks & Events Supporters’ Circle.

Chisenhale Gallery’s Schools’ Programme 2023 is made possible through the generosity of Headline Supporter Goodman Gallery and Freelands Foundation.

The Chisenhale Gallery Curatorial Fellowship 2023–24 is supported by the Terra Foundation of American Art.

The 2023–24 Asymmetry Curatorial Research Fellow is hosted by Chisenhale Gallery.

Chisenhale Gallery, registered charity number: 1026175