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All the latest from our Learning & Engagement and outreach projects

News: Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour to present work at The Mosaic Rooms in 2016

Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour is busy. She is currently working away on an exciting new film project which will be shown at her first London solo exhibition at The Mosaic Rooms in May 2016.

In the Future, They Ate From the Finest Porcelain is a science fiction short film inspired by the politicised archaeology carried out in present day Israel/Palestine. Produced in a mixture of colour and black/white it combines live motion, CGI and archival photographs to explore the role of myth and fiction for fact, history and national identity.

The film, which will be approximately 28 minutes long, is in production at the moment, and the artist has just finished the shoot. We thought we’d share some behind the scenes shots:

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Born in Jerusalem, Larissa Sansour studied Fine Art in Copenhagen, London and New York. Her work is interdisciplinary, immersed in the current political dialogue and utilises video, photography, installation and sculpture. She has shown work at the Istanbul and Liverpool biennials and at Tate Modern, London; Brooklyn Museum, NYC and Centre Pompidou, Paris, among others.

The Mosaic Rooms is delighted to be one of the supporters of this ambitious film project. We will be posting behind the scenes updates here as the project develops – so make sure to check back!

 

Three Percent II

Working with a group of young women, Phakama have been exploring a number of themes raised in Nadia Kaabi-Linke’s exhibition, The Future Rewound and the Cabinet of Souls, now on at The Mosaic Rooms. Their latest session sought to unearth a moment in time where the participants felt most free, this moment was then materialised and represented by the creation of wings.

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Join us for a special performance which will showcase the works produced as part of this project on 29th November. The performance will take place within the exhibition and begins at 3pm and will be followed by the exhibition catalogue launch at 4pm. FREE, rsvp@mosaicrooms.org

Three Percent

It is said that you only need three percent of the population to start a revolution – that’s all it takes to wake up, change things and make a difference.

The Mosaic Rooms and Phakama have teamed up to deliver a new project entitled Three Percent. Working with women aged 16-25 the project aims to explore issues that affect daily lives in London through theatre and art. Drawing inspiration from Tunisian artist Nadia Kaabi-Linke’s new exhibition, The Future Rewound & The Cabinet of Souls, Three Percent will respond to the themes of the artist’s work: restriction, confinement and freedom. It will creatively explore ideologies of capitalism and colonialism and the unseen systems that control our daily lives. The project will culminate in a special showcase performance at The Mosaic Rooms on 29 November.

Sessions exploring these themes have already begun, below are a few pictures.

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The Mosaic Rooms at No 6 Brixton

 

The Mosaic Rooms hosted a community workshop day at No 6 Brixton in April 2014. Inspired by current artist in residence Sadek Rahim who is working in the studio there, members of the community were asked to draw a portrait of someone significant to them in their local community, as well as take their own portrait. A wall of images representing the local community was then created. The installation will be up for three weeks for visitors to the community space to see. Part of the Intervening Space: From The Intimate To The World exhibition programme, supported by Arts Council England.

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Q&A with Natasha Freedman, Learning and Engagement, The Mosaic Rooms.

 

1/ What is the MR Learning and Engagement programme?

The learning programme encompasses artist-led workshops and projects that investigate contemporary society in the UK and MENA region, responding to The Mosaic Rooms’ multidisciplinary programme and providing an opportunity for creative engagement with the ideas explored by exhibiting artists.

The programme seeks to engage diverse audiences and develop ongoing dialogues with partner organisations, with activities developed specifically for young people within and beyond formal education, young artists, the local community, specific Arab communities and the wider adult public.

2/ What inspired the title of The Mosaic Rooms upcoming exhibition: ‘Home’?

Since 2012 we have delivered a range of projects exploring the theme of HOME inspired by The Mosaic Rooms June/July 2012 exhibition Home: Contemporary architectural interpretations of the home in the Arab world. These have including a Supper Club series in the homes of several celebrated Arab cooks, a design project, film project, art project and several creative writing workshops. The results of this programme will be showcased in The Mosaic Rooms upcoming exhibition Home: Learning & Engagement Showcase opening this September 2013 as part of the London Design Festival.

natashablogThe Iraqi Supper with Lamees Ibrahim

3/ Briefly describe some of the projects you worked on for Home.

The A.M. Qattan Foundation has a commitment to nurture young artists and we were keen to develop a relationship with an art college in London, to support young designers and start to open a dialogue between young artists in London and in the region. We developed a collaborative project with the FdA Interior Design course at Chelsea College of Art and Design, encouraging students to uncover memories of home and domestic practice as stimulus for furniture and object design – with some imaginative and unique results.

natashablog2Ampika Ponnirum, Chelsea College of Art, 2013

One of the aims of the learning programme is to gradually build sustained relationships with specific Arab communities in London. The Last of the Dictionary Men exhibition (February/March 2013) featured interviews with 14 Yemeni sailors, the last survivors of the first-generation of seamen from Yemen who settled in in the small town of South Shields and made it their home. Responding to the exhibition we commissioned the exhibiting filmmaker Tina Gharavi to deliver an oral history project with the Yemeni community in London. Participants were invited to interview one another on camera, teasing out personal stories of migration, revealing their sense of belonging and notions of home. We were delighted that so many people took part and shared their testimonies so openly. See a small behind the scenes video from the project here.

Another project was developed for young people in the local borough, seeking to evolve The Mosaic Rooms’ relationships with the local community and provide a platform for young people to express their ideas about contemporary society. British artist duo kennardphillipps  (Iraq – How, Where, For Whom? exhibition April-June 2012), were commissioned to lead a series of workshops with young people in several youth clubs across the borough, exploring ideas of home and what it means to feel ‘at home’ in oneself and in society. The contagious energy and commitment of everyone involved was hugely inspiring, resulting in some excellent photomontage artworks. See more.

Find out about our learning and engagement showcase here.

Home – A Project With Young People In The RBKC

 

Kennardphillipps worked with two lively groups of young people aged 14-18 at MCWG youth club, supporting them to express their ideas using photomontage techniques. Inspired by kennardphillipps’s own work, many chose to explore the overall theme of home by making work about their views on contemporary society.

We look forward to sharing the resulting work at The Mosaic Rooms as part of the exhibition HOME, 13-21 September, alongside work made by other young people in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

With huge thanks to everyone who came and took part.

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Cart.og.ra.phy – a project by Dia Batal

Artist and long term collaborator with The Mosaic Rooms, Dia Batal, was commissioned to develop a project with the Yemeni community in Liverpool in 2011 in which she captured some of their oral histories.  We are delighted to share some of their stories here, to add to the Yemeni voices from London and South Shields that are in our current exhibition.

Cart.og.ra.phy – a project by Dia Batal
Commissioned by the Liverpool Arabic Centre for the Liverpool Arab Arts Festival 2011.  Generously funded by Awards for All

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