"Highly Acclaimed Works of Rosalind Nashashibi"
2003-11-05 until 2003-12-06
Temple Bar Gallery and Studios
Dublin, , IE Ireland

In the highly acclaimed works of Rosalind Nashashibi, there is a recurring interest in the passing of time.  Nashashibi, who earlier this year won the prestigious Beck's Futures award, provides a compelling focus on ways in which time passes in public and private spaces, her camera lingering on people and places, observing everyday activities and the environments in which these activities occur. For her first solo exhibition in Dublin, Nashashibi will show four films: Midwest, Dahiet Al Bareed (The District of the Post Office), Humaniora and Blood and Fire — which was commissioned for the Scotland Pavilion at the 50th Venice Biennale.

Shot in Omaha, Nebraska in 2002, Midwest features images of traffic passing, of people walking along silent streets and of groups chatting, eating and spending time in cafes. These scenes of unhurried local life are combined with almost motionless studies of parked cars or abandoned buildings, allowing viewers to not only reflect on the character of these neighbourhoods, but to also consider the question of Nashashibi's distance as an artist from her subject matter.  In Dahiet Al Bareed (The District of the Post Office) (2002), this question is perhaps even more relevant since it depicts an area in East Jerusalem once designed and developed by the artist's grandfather.  Currently the area is a West Bank no-man's land, but rather than choosing the very immediate images of soldiers and military hardware, Nashashibi has turned her attention once again to the district's low-level human dramas — children playing football, people being called to prayer and young men hanging out at the local barber shop, 'The Sweet Love Saloon for Men'.  

The two other films on show at Temple Bar Gallery offer perspectives on particular public institutions in Britain. Humaniora (2002), features intensive observation of the exteriors of British hospital buildings. In this film the constant coming and going of people encourages speculation about the staff and patients who spend considerable time in these buildings, while the various architectural styles offer clues to the kinds of values which, at different points in time, society has held in relation to the treatment of the individual.  In her most recent film, Blood and Fire (2003), Nashashibi takes a closer view of public institutions by recording, from beginning to end, a Salvation Army lunch.  As in her other work it is the intimate, quotidian details which account for the significant content of this work, Nashashibi encouraging us to pause and take note of the manner in which time passes in a specific social space.

Rosalind Nashashibi was born in Croydon, UK, in 1973 and is currently based in Glasgow.  During 2003 she has exhibited at: Visions For the Future V, a solo exhibition at Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh; Zenomap, Scotland Pavilion, Venice Biennale; Beck's Futures 4, ICA London; Midwest and Midwest Field, CCA Cinema, Glasgow; Displaced, Hammer Projects, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Hidden in a Daylight, Hotel "Pod Brunatym Jeleniem" Cieszyn, curated by Foksal Gallery, Warsaw; Some Things We Like, aspreyjacques, London. In 2004 she will be having solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel and CCA Glasgow.

A publication on the artist's work, produced by Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, will be available from TBG&S during the course of the exhibition.

IMAGE
Dahiet Al Bareed by Rosalind Nashashibi

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