Zined Sedira
(United Kingdom)

The distinctive quality of Zineb Sedira’s work resides in her way of broaching the three cultures to which she has ties. Of Algerian origin, French by birth, and living in England, she’s been working in an autobiographical mode with video, photography, and installation since the mid-nineties. With Saphir (2006), Sedira turns to the people of Algeria and creates a poetic atmosphere where the desire to free and travel is palpable. She enmeshes themes of aspiration and immigration, particulary the passage from one culture to another.
Other presented work : And the road goes on… (2006)
Zineb Sedira
Born in Paris, France, in 1963
Lives and works in London, United kingdom
www.zinebsedira.com
The specificity of Zineb Sedira’s body of work resides in the way she addresses the three cultures to which she is connected. Born in France to Algerian parents, she settled in England, where she has been working since the mid-1990s in video, photography and installation of an autobiographical nature. Her works examine various aspects of her cultures and languages, as well as her sense of time and memory. Mother, Father and I (2003) and Mother Tongue (2002) refer to interwoven traditions and languages, addressing the cultural and linguistic misunderstandings that cut across generations. A completely new dimension is added when Sedira’s subject is the history of France’s colonization of Algeria, where French became the official language to the detriment of Arabic. The artist’s introspective side is less evident in Saphir (2006), where her subject is primarily the Algerian people. Hotel Es Safir, built on terra firma, lies at the core of the video. It and the Tariq Ibn Ziyad ferry are, in fact, the main “characters. ”They symbolize the immobility of a people, its flight to a time and place that are indeterminate in the sense that the past and present intersect there. Sedira creates a poetic atmosphere in which the desire to flee and to travel is palpable. Some contemplate it, others throw themselves into it, and many return to it. The artist blends people’s aspirations with the immigrant experience and the transition involved in moving from one culture to another, here represented by the image of the ferry.
MAI (MONTRÉAL, ARTS INTERCULTURELS)
3680, JEANNE MANCE
T: 514.982.3386
[SEPT. 06, 2007 – OCT. 13, 2007]
OPENING SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 08, 2007 AT 5 PM |
TUESDAY TO SATURDAY FROM 12 PM TO 6 PM
GUIDED TOUR BY GUEST CURATOR MARIE FRASER SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2007 AT 2 PM