Jinns (2001 - 2004) by Zineb Sedira. Image courtesy of the artist.
Telling Stories with Differences, on show at The City Gallery in Leicester until October 29, showcases the work of internationally acclaimed artist, Zineb Sedira.
Born in France of Algerian parents and began making art in the mid 1990s whilst in London after completing studies at St Martins, the Slade and the Royal College of Art.
Now resident in London, Sedira is a rising star on the international arts circuit, exhibiting her work in Europe, the Middle East, as well as the USA.
Audiences in many different parts of the world have been touched by her photographic, video and film works, which explore her relationship with her Muslim heritage and her Algerian family history.
Part of the second generation of immigrants, Sedira’s family lived through the turbulent history of the occupation of Algeria by France and their experiences are central to her artistic output.
Mother, Daughter and I (2003) by Zineb Sedira. Image courtesy of the artist.
Using autobiographical subject matter, the artist uses her work to investigate the difficult experience of living between cultures and traditions.
Stylistically she draws on both documentary filmmaking and French cinema and Telling Stories with Differences summarises her recent career with major film, video and photographic works
The documentary style of her video and film works draws on both oral history and traditional practices of story telling.
Within North African cultures, women have a central role in passing on cultural history and family stories along the matrilineal chain as a means of preserving cultural identity from one generation to the next.
Sedira’s acclaimed video work Mother Tongue looks at three generations of the artist’s family, each communicating in their own 'mother tongue', but unable to communicate directly through words.
Le Maison de ma Mére by Zineb Sedira - commissioned by The City Gallery. © Zineb Sedira. Courtesy The Agency, London
Also featured in the show is impressionist photographic work La maison de ma mere (2002). Commissioned by The City Gallery, the piece is both intimate and tender and reveals the artist’s need to understand and reclaim her Mother’s world as home.
Other new works include a three-screen DVD projection entitled Mother, Father and I, a key work exploring the dynamics of her parental inheritance.
The work adopts a documentary style referencing the Algerian war and concerns the transformation of Sedira’s parents from freedom fighters against French colonial rule to economic migrants in France.
Organised by Cornerhouse in Manchester, the exhibition is supported by a National Touring Programme Award from the Arts Council of England.
