Points of Departure

About

Points of Departure features new commissions resulting from six residencies in London and Ramallah by British and Palestinian artists: Jumana Emil Abboud, Bashar Alhroub, Bisan Abu Eisheh, Jeremy Hutchison, Olivia Plender, and Nathan Witt. Devised with two curators-in-residence, Mirna Bamieh and Rebecca Heald, the works in Points of Departure are a thoughtful exploration of the anthropological concept of liminality. From the Latin word là„«men, meaning ‘a threshold', liminality is a condition in which one's sense of identity is diffused, leading not only to states of dislocation and disorientation, but also to the possibility of new perspectives. Residencies can also be understood as a ‘liminal' state between time and place. But what happens when the liminality of the residency is entwined with a place like Palestine, which is defined by its own political ambiguity and contestation? In the face of globalisation, but without succumbing to false universalism, all Points of Departure artists undertook varieties of research to reveal a range of partial truths. In this exhibition they are presented in different mediums including performance, video, installation, drawings, and intervention. Following the presentation of the first outcomes of Points of Departure in Ramallah in January and February 2013, the exhibition travels in an expanded form to the ICA, as one of the highlights of the 2013 Shubbak Festival in London.