Photographer and artist Nasreen Shaikh Jamal al-Lail’s work will be on exhibition at the IHRC gallery in Wembley, northwest London.  Press wishing to register for the launch event should email media@ihrc.org or call 020 8904 4222.  Photos, audio and video clips will be available.

Jamal al-Lail’s work focuses on the connection between space and self-identity.  On her work Rooftop (pictured right), for example, Jamal al-Lail states:

“Identity and space are intimately connected; space delineates the scope for identity. This is particularly the case in the context of Saudi Arabia – space necessitates the very ground for a coherent identity. I use the rooftop – open space – as a metaphor for progressive, liberated and open-ended possibility. By placing a young girl – symbolizing innocence – in an open space I am trying to describe how identity flourishes best when there are no barriers, no ceilings.”

Being a Muslim in Britain of mixed Indian and Arab heritage, and also, being raised partly in Saudi Arabia has deeply shaped the way she perceives cultures and the dynamism inherent in their movements. 

On her video installation ‘The Calling’[1], she states: 

“[It] attempts to enrich the visual space by its dual nature, stillness and the echo of distance. The ‘echo’ identifies with all that lies within the field of vision, thereby leaving the musicality to fade into the scene. This overwhelming sense of silence and stillness reach beyond what is distant and leaves us asking a pertinent question; who is calling?”

Jamal al-Lail will be exhibiting these and other work, including new material created specifically for the IHRC show.  She will be talking briefly about her work and inspiration at the exhibition launch and will be available for interviews on the night and beforehand.