Nottingham Contemporary

We are thrilled to be presenting the first solo exhibition in a major cultural institution in the UK by Dala Nasser (b.1990, Lebanon). The exhibition will feature a large-scale sculptural and sonic installation that invites audiences into a collective space of mourning and remembrance.

By using the process of frottage (the technique of taking a rubbing from an uneven surface), Nasser will transform the gallery space into a symbolic graveyard, creating a collection of charcoal rubbings collected from the graves of seminal artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, historians and journalists from across Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and England. Representing cultural figures from the mid nineteenth century (specifically the Nahda, Arab Renaissance) to the present day, the work honours those who fought for independence and freedom in times of political dominance and occupation and whose art, writing, and intellectual contributions have shaped the notion of true sovereignty in Western Asia. Cyanotypes will stand in as visual representations of the figures whose graves are unreachable or unknown, and will accompany the grave rubbings alongside black mourning fabrics. These mixed fabrics will hang from a wooden skeletal structure traversing two galleries, creating a canopy of graves that visitors can experience from underneath. An accompanying audio installation will permeate through the installation, featuring a voice communicating between both realms of the living and the dead.

Cemetery of Martyrs will create a collective space to gather and hold the voices and legacies of figures who were steadfast in their commitment to freedom; a graveyard to mourn, learn, and reaffirm the power of culture and humanity to connect us to histories of resistance and renewal.