
A contemporary Orientalist sees herself in Palestine in a series of souvenir postcards… whether or not she belongs or is welcome there…
Because isn’t this what we all do, when we travel to an exotic place, proudly saying “please” and “thank you” in exactly the correct pronunciation of an Other tongue, imagining ourselves for a moment, in asking for the bill, to be mistaken for a native…
while the server, laughing behind his or her eyes, sees right through your identity to a colonial past that is, along with your fantasy, part author to this current moment. Nodding and smiling and complimenting your excellent Arabic, which you both know is harnessed to expectations of generosity, which you gladly bestow for recognition of being seen as you wish to be seen. All of us pretending in this business transaction, an exchange until all accounts are empty.
MA Fine Art Interim Show
Chelsea College of Arts, London
Chelsea College of Arts, London
22 January 2015
[…] identity, memory, and to some degree, a certain persona. A particular work that leapt to mind is “Postcards from the Land of No People (Wish you were here)” from 2015. So not only is it relevant the exhibition theme/concept, it’s also a […]
[…] “Postcards from the Land of No People (wish you were here)”, 2015, printed postcards in a wooden rack […]