Alia Farid

About

This will be Kuwaiti-Puerto Rican artist Alia Farid’s first exhibition in the UK. Working in film and sculpture, Farid gives visibility to less commonly recognised histories, often diminished by Western hegemony. Underpinning Farid’s practice is an ongoing research project that maps Arab and South Asian migrations to Latin America and the Caribbean. A growing material archive that traces these movements, and the subsequent adaptations of architectural styles, ornamentation, rituals and other social devices, forms the basis of Farid’s ambitious commission at Chisenhale Gallery. Much like her own heritage, Farid’s exhibition will bring seemingly disparate sites in relation to each other, creating a trans-regionalism that challenges national boundaries. Farid’s new work is a co-commission with The Power Plant, Toronto and CAC Passerelle, Brest. It will be exhibited at CAC Passerelle, Brest in early 2024. The wider research project is largely supported by the Creative Capital Award, which Farid received in 2022.

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 is nominated for the Artes Mundi 10 and the Nam June Paik Award 2023, and is the recipient of The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award 2023.

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

Headlines Supporter: Maria Sukkar.

With additional support from the Chisenhale Gallery Commissions Fund.