21 March 2023 12am
Lydia Ourahmane gives a virtual tour of her ongoing solo exhibition, Tassili. Speaking to the process of making her commissioned film, the artist reflects on 13 days and nights spent in the desert with her collaborators, and considers the urgency of documenting the ancient riverbed.
Cinematography, Editing & Production by Vuk Dragojevic.
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Lydia Ourahmane is based in Algiers and Barcelona. Her research-driven practice links the personal, spiritual, and geopolitical, drawing on complex histories of colonialism to engage paradoxes of belief and ideas of displacement. Recent and forthcoming solo exhibitions include MACBA, Barcelona (2023), SMAK, Ghent (2022), Portikus, Frankfurt (2022), KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin (2022), De Appel, Amsterdam (2021), Triangle-Astérides, Marseille (2021), Kunsthalle Basel (2021), CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (2020) and Chisenhale Gallery, London (2018). Her work was included in the 34th Bienal de São Paulo (2021) and the New Museum Triennial, New York (2018).
Lydia Ourahmane, Tassili, 2022, is commissioned and produced by Mercer Union, Toronto; SculptureCenter, New York; rhizome, Algiers; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunis; and Nottingham Contemporary.
Lydia Ourahmane, Tassili, 2022, is made possible by Valeria Napoleone XX SculptureCenter (VNXXSC). Commissioning support is provided by VIA Art Fund. Additional support is provided by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation and the Harpo Foundation. Research support was provided by Mophradat.
Mercer Union thanks Leading Supporters Nuyten Dime Foundation.
Tassili is made possible with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts through the Arts Abroad program and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC; and presented in partnership with Images Festival, Toronto.
Tassili is presented as part of Artist First, a Mercer Union commissioning platform. Artist First Commissions are made possible with the generous support of Kaye & Paul Beeston, Rebecca Carbin, Jane Corkin, Sue & Larry Dime, M. Victoria Foley & Paul Fredricks, Joanna & Meric Gertler, Popsy & Bob Johnstone, David & Erica Neligan, Nuyten Dime Foundation, Jeanne Parkin & Jennifer Parkin, Donna & Robert Poile, Frances & Tim Price, Victoria Taylor, and Morden Yolles. To learn more about Artist First click the link here.
In-kind sponsorship is provided by Panasonic through its partnership program for cultural institutes.
Still from the video walkthrough of Lydia Ourahmane: Tassili, 2022. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Vuk Dragojevic.