Jérôme Giller and Shayma Nader exhibit in Brussels
21 March 2019
Two of our Meet the Neighbours artists are exhibiting work in Brussels this month. Jérôme Giller and Shayma Nader are sharing work they developed through the Meet the Neighbours project as part of the AMAN IMAN exhibition at Darna - Vlaams-Marokkaans culturenhuis, which opens on 28 March 2019.
AMAN IMAN, which means ‘Water is Life’ in the Amazigh language of Tamazight, explores the role of water and the space of the commons in our societies in general and our cities in particular. It brings together artists, researchers, architects and activists working in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The exhibition and public programme was initiated by Brussels-based artists chépas collective and Jérôme Giller, and curated by Francesca Masoero of LE 18, Marrakech and POOL IS COOL.
As part of Meet the Neighbours, Jérôme Giller and Shayma Nader undertook residencies with LE 18 in Marrakech and contributed to the long-term research programme QANAT, which explores the politics and poetics of water.
Jérôme Giller is exhibiting the results of Aïn Zerbia (the eye / source of the Carpet), a collaborative project he undertook during his Meet the Neighbours residency to create a woven rug with the women weavers of the cooperative Angouan, based in Aït Ourir at the foot of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The installation presents the carpet (Ain Angouan), along with a set of drawings created during the workshops and three videos (Sofa, Azetta, Ain).
The documents trace the collaborative creation process set up by the artist to question the poetic representations of water, and give visibility to the women’s expression, and to the traditional and current weaving culture in Amazigh society, perceived as an analogon of human relationships.
Shayma Nader will be presenting her film Tussamrt, which she developed during an earlier residency with LE 18. The video comprises four short musical portraits documenting songs of the Movement on Road 96 protest group, who fight against the pollution of water reserves in Imider in the southeast of Morocco.
On 31 March, Shayma Nader will be in conversation with sociologist and activist Soraya el Kahlaoui about the work and her more recent Meet the Neighbours residency with LE 18, which saw her return to Imider and develop Nothing is Owned, Everything is Shared with the Movement on Road 96. This piece takes the form of a musical narrative composed of songs and poems.
The exhibition runs until 6 April 2019. The programme is developed in partnership with Darna - Vlaams Marokkaans Culturenhuis and is supported by the Flemish Government, with the contribution of Meet the Neighbours / Creative Europe, and Stimuleringsfonds.
The full program is available on www.amaniman.online
