This week, I saw Zineb Sedira's installation at Tate Britain, bridging the political and the poetic through her love for cinema, a creation both "monumental and intimate", as the artist said herself, rooted in her love for her Algerian culture, but crossing all parts of Africa...
A real moment of inspiration.
French-born, of Algerian roots, British-based, artist Zineb Sedira (b.1963) undertakes the Tate Britain Commission, having created this major site-specific work for the neo-classical Duveen Galleries at the heart of Tate Britain.
On view until January 2027, this is one of Sedira’s largest commission in the UK to date, with her great exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery a few years ago, with overlapping themes and works.
"It’s about bringing the weight of history into dialogue with the living pulse of the Pan-African experience. It gives me the opportunity to imagine new stories, new energies, and new meanings," Sedira said.
Tate thus invites one more leading contemporary artists to occupy this unique architectural context, the way Hew Locke brilliantly did with his 'Procession' in 2022, my favourite to date (and you can read my feature piece on it and with Hew here: https://artuk.org/discover/stories/hew-lockes-the-procession-transforming-darkness-into-joy).
But Zineb Sedira's work is unique to me, as she stands as a mirror of my own life, from Algeria to England via France...
I met her in 2022, just before I met Hew Locke. here is an article:
https://themarkaz.org/zineb-sedira-triumphs-for-france-algeria-at-59th-venice-biennale/
She features Algeria's so well, both in her personal context and the grander historical frame, she holds a unique place for that...
Some more words later... Some visuals for now:
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When Words Fall Silent, Cinema Speaks is on view until 17 January 2027.
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I also wrote about Zineb Sedira here:
On women artists, postcolonial art and the legacy of empires
https://www.imperica.com/en/magazine/on-women-artists-postcolonial-art-and-the-legacy-of-empires
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