What can images and objects tell us about how colonialism shapes our understanding of the past and the present?
Colonialism is a violent system of control achieved through the exploitation and extraction of labour and resources. Growing up in the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a region rich in natural resources, Baloji’s work explores the drain on human and natural resources that shape ongoing colonial legacies. As Baloji has stated, ‘I am not interested in colonialism as nostalgia, or in it as a thing of the past, but in the continuation of that system.’
The installation is centred around the mining and circulation of copper, a mineral that is central to the country’s economy and political conflicts. Nearly all copper from DRC was extracted and exported for large-scale industrial use, impacting local infrastructure and livelihoods. Arranged to look like classified museum objects on a plinth, the mortar shells are displayed here as planters. Baloji has filled them with plants indigenous to central Africa’s copper belt, now commonplace in botanical gardens across Europe. The title of the work refers to phrases from the Vocabulary of Elisabethville (1965) by André Yav, a book documenting the contribution of African soldiers and communities to the First and Second World Wars.
The work also includes archival photographs found in a Belgium ethnographic museum. Taken during the colonial era, the images document the scarification of the body – a practice commonly used across Africa during initiation rites as a means of identifying a person’s community. These photographs show the common colonial practice of othering African subjects through scientific and ethnographic studies. Commenting on the connection between scarified skin and mined copper, Baloji hammered each photograph by hand and inscribed the copper plates and wallpapers with scarification patterns.
Baloji reclaims the material and embodied histories of his home country in order to change the ways in which we see the past and the present. He says, ‘It was interesting for me to find these traces of the pre-colonial system. There was a whole cultural, social, aesthetic and meaningful system in place before, and working with copper was a way to re-direct the system, denouncing the political and economic impact that colonialism had in the Congo.’
Farah Al Qasimi, Um Al Naar (Mother of Fire) 2019
Set in the United Arab Emirates and inspired by the film genre of horror-comedy, Um Al Naar (Mother of Fire), playfully engages with colonial legacies and gendered expressions of identity. The work is presented as an episode of a fictional reality TV show starring a jinn (a spirit from Islamic religious culture, originating in pre-Islamic traditions) called Um Al Naar. She offers a critical perspective on colonial legacies and gender divisions in the Persian Gulf, blending popular spiritual beliefs with personal reflections. The artist has said that the jinn embodies ‘hysteria, curiosity, spirituality – a desire to be expressive and untethered.’
Gallery label, September 2024
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artworks in Sammy Baloji
Farah Al Qasimi, Blanket Shop 2019
S Folding Blanket connects with other works such as Blanket Shop, the print references the material translations bound up with the movement of peoples. Al Qasimi isolates and highlights the beauty of seemingly inconspicuous moments amidst the visual noise of the city. She creates feelings of in-betweenness and disorientation, as geographic references and the boundaries between public and private are intentionally blurred.
Gallery label, September 2024
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artworks in Sammy Baloji
Farah Al Qasimi, After Dinner 2018
This is one of a group of photographs in Tate’s collection by Farah al Qasimi that present interiors and scenes of striking colours, shimmering textures and graphic textiles. They were taken in the United Arab Emirates and the United States, countries between which the artist lives and works, playfully engaging with cultural signifiers, gendered expressions of identity and colonial legacies in the Middle East. Each photograph exists in an edition of five with two artist’s proofs.
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artworks in Sammy Baloji
Farah Al Qasimi, Bedroom (Baba) 2018
This is one of a group of photographs in Tate’s collection by Farah al Qasimi that present interiors and scenes of striking colours, shimmering textures and graphic textiles. They were taken in the United Arab Emirates and the United States, countries between which the artist lives and works, playfully engaging with cultural signifiers, gendered expressions of identity and colonial legacies in the Middle East. Each photograph exists in an edition of five with two artist’s proofs.
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artworks in Sammy Baloji
Farah Al Qasimi, S Folding Blanket 2016
In Blanket Shop, a shop owner in New York City displays a selection of bright, floral blankets. Blanket Shop is part of a series titled Back and Forth Disco that captures details of local communities and small businesses. Connecting with other works such as S Folding Blanket, the print references the material translations bound up with the movement of peoples. Fabrics, materials and textures obscure the location of the image. Al Qasimi isolates and highlights the beauty of seemingly inconspicuous moments amidst the visual noise of the city. She creates feelings of in-betweenness and disorientation, as geographic references and the boundaries between public and private are intentionally blurred.
Gallery label, September 2024
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artworks in Sammy Baloji
Farah Al Qasimi, Living Room Vape 2016
The subjects in Living Room Vape are somewhat camouflaged. One sits with their head in a cloud of vapour, another stands by the edge of the frame turned away from the camera. Exactly whose living room we are in is unclear. Al Qasimi’s work seems to resist the confines of any one style or place. Richly detailed Persian textiles adorn the space, alongside porcelain vases and what appears to be a European landscape painting. Here, baroque extravagance meets photo-editorial glamour. But to Al Qasimi, the setting represents years of transcultural exchanges that have been appropriated into Gulf standards of taste.
Gallery label, September 2024
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artworks in Sammy Baloji
Farah Al Qasimi, Noora’s Room 2020
This is one of a group of photographs in Tate’s collection by Farah al Qasimi that present interiors and scenes of striking colours, shimmering textures and graphic textiles. They were taken in the United Arab Emirates and the United States, countries between which the artist lives and works, playfully engaging with cultural signifiers, gendered expressions of identity and colonial legacies in the Middle East. Each photograph exists in an edition of five with two artist’s proofs.
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artworks in Sammy Baloji
Farah Al Qasimi, Woman in Leopard Print 2019
This is one of a group of photographs in Tate’s collection by Farah al Qasimi that present interiors and scenes of striking colours, shimmering textures and graphic textiles. They were taken in the United Arab Emirates and the United States, countries between which the artist lives and works, playfully engaging with cultural signifiers, gendered expressions of identity and colonial legacies in the Middle East. Each photograph exists in an edition of five with two artist’s proofs.
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artworks in Sammy Baloji
Art in this room
Farah Al Qasimi
Um Al Naar (Mother of Fire)
2019
Farah Al Qasimi
Blanket Shop
2019
Farah Al Qasimi
After Dinner
2018
Farah Al Qasimi
Bedroom (Baba)
2018
Farah Al Qasimi
S Folding Blanket
2016
Farah Al Qasimi
Living Room Vape
2016
Farah Al Qasimi
Noora’s Room
2020
Farah Al Qasimi
Woman in Leopard Print
2019