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15/10/2003

Alia Syed

Iniva - Institute of International Visual Arts, London

Eating Grass

inIVA is pleased to present Eating Grass, a poetic and compelling new 16mm film from talented artist and film-maker Alia Syed, shown for the first time at TheSpace@inIVA.

Shot in London, Karachi and Lahore and encompassing five stories relating to the times of day for Muslim prayer, this visually stunning work explores overlaps between time, memory and location through Syed's use of allegory and complex editing, reminiscent of historical structuralist film practices. The title is a reference to a quote made by President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan in response to India exploding a nuclear device in the early 1970s. He promised the Pakistani people that they too would have their own nuclear weapon at all costs even if it meant 'eating grass'.
Connecting different places and peoples through richly layered imagery and sounds, Eating Grass contains documentary footage accompanied by a voiceover in both Urdu and English. By building tonal rhythmical cadences - similar musical structures to those found in jazz or Indian classical music - meaning is not only conveyed by what is said, but also by repeated rhythms built up as the textures of individual voices slip from one language to another. Meanwhile the shadows cast by the sun become emotional triggers for a young woman whose present is continually enmeshed with the past.
Alia Syed embraces a wide range of film practices, refusing to sit in a single, definable form. Syed has shown at film festivals around the world and, in 2002, inIVA's touring exhibition of her films, Jigar, travelled to London, Walsall, Leigh and Glasgow. In 2003 she had a solo exhibition at New York's Talwar Gallery.
Eating Grass is commissioned by Film London Artists' Film and Video Awards and inIVA.

Wednesday - Saturday, 12-6pm

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inIVA's programme of exhibitions and talks features artists and thinkers who explore the creative possibilities provided by the constant interaction of cultures in the contemporary world.

Eating Grass is part of inIVA's Archive season, a series of exhibitions, talks and film screenings which re-tell forgotten histories in a way that casts a different light on the past and present.

ARCHIVE SEASON
A Season of Exhibitions and Events
October 2003 - March 2004

inIVA'S NEW ARCHIVE SEASON KICKS OFF WITH AWARD WINNING FILM 'A STONE'S THROW AWAY'

Mining the archive of post-war contemporary culture and retrieving 'lost' artists and art histories is fast becoming the mainstay of many museums and galleries. Our view of the past is inevitably shaped by present concerns and perspectives but is it possible to re-shape the present by re-examining our histories? inIVA's new archive season brings together exhibitions, talks and film screenings which re-tell forgotten histories in a way that casts a different light not only on the past but equally on the present. They recount stories that have taken place in Palestine, Lebanon, the Caribbean, Uganda, the Congo and Pakistan - events tied together by a common theme of struggle.

In October, inIVA begins the archive season by proudly presenting Line Halvorsen's award winning documentary film A Stone's Throw Away. Made in collaboration with Media 19, the film is a stunning visual portrayal of children under siege that combines historical account with contemporary television documentary practice. Over a year, three thirteen year old boys from Deheishe refugee camp outside Bethlehem, are filmed in a world in which the abnormal has become everyday. The story provides an intimate insight into their lives, raising questions about how children are influenced by the conditions in which they live. This is followed by Alia Syed's poetic and compelling new film Eating Grass, co-commissioned by inIVA and Film London Artists' Film and Video Awards. Shot in London, Karachi and Lahore, the film explores the overlap between times, places and memories, recounting five different stories that relate to the five times of day for Muslim prayer.

In November, in collaboration with the Whitechapel, we host a special Chat Room event with the internationally acclaimed artist Janine Antoni. In December, we host the UK premiere of a new film on John La Rose by distinguished photographer and film-maker Horace Ové. An activist, publisher and writer, John La Rose has been instrumental in building a living archive of the ideas and experiences of black communities in Britain and the Caribbean through vehicles such as New Beacon Books, the Caribbean Artists' Movement and the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books. To mark the end of the year, inIVA returns to the sporting motif to bring you the first table football tournament to be staged with competing teams from London's contemporary artworld: The inIVA Art Cup.

In January, we shall be screening Lumumba, a landmark film by talented Haitian film-maker Raoul Peck. The film's screenings will be complemented by a discussion on the relationship between history and representation with a rare line-up of speakers including Ludo de Witte, author of the controversial history of Congo's first prime minister; the painter Luc Tuymans; and artist and film-maker John Akomfrah. Also in January, we shall be showing Zarina Bhimji's eloquent triptych of light boxes, which were made over a period of five years and result from recent travels to Uganda. In March, artist, writer and film-maker Renée Green completes an x-space commission for inIVA's online gallery; historically her practice investigates the archive-based systems we invent in an attempt to understand more about life. To conclude the season we shall be hosting a residency by The Atlas Group, whose new body of work re-constructs an alternative history of Lebanon through a minute and comprehensive history of the car bomb. To accompany the residency, inIVA will be hosting a discussion entitled Fact or Fiction which looks at the construction of history through the media, art and archaeology, examining the overlaps and cross-overs between these different areas.

Archive Season - Listings information:

A Stone's Throw Away 08/10 - 11/10/03
Preview of Line Halvorsen's award-winning film made in collaboration with Media 19 Film screenings at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm daily at TheSpace@inIVA
6-8 Standard Place, Rivington Street, London EC2A 3BE

Alia Syed: Eating Grass 16/10 - 22/11/03
Compelling new 16mm film from artist and film maker Alia Syed
Exhibition at TheSpace@inIVA Wed - Sat, 12-6pm

Janine Antoni in conversation with David A. Bailey 29/11/03
Whitechapel, 80-82 Whitechapel High Street London E1 7QX
Talk begins 2pm. Free event, book through Whitechapel
For information contact 020 7522 7888

inIVA Art Cup 07/12/03
Live Art Event at Kick, 126-127 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JE
Space is limited, so invited teams only

The Dream to Change the World
UK premiere of Horace Ové's new film on John La Rose
Film screenings at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm daily at TheSpace@inIVA
John La Rose in Conversation with Horace Ové
Special Event (Screening and Talk) 10/12/03 at 18.30. Booking essential.

Lumumba 21/01-24/01/04
A Gripping Political Thriller by Raoul Peck
Film screenings at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm daily at TheSpace@inIVA

Ludo de Witte in conversation with Luc Tuymans, John Akomfrah and Raoul Peck 21/01/04 at 18.30
Special Event (Screening and Talk). Booking essential

Zarina Bhimji 28/01-06/03/04
Exhibition at the TheSpace@inIVA, Wed-Sat, 12-6pm

Renée Green 03/04
x-space commission, inIVA online

The Atlas Group 03/04
Exhibition/ Residency at TheSpace@inIVA

Fact or Fiction 03/04
Chat Room event. Please call inIVA for details
Booking Essential

_____________

inIVA's programme of exhibitions and talks features artists and thinkers who explore the creative possibilities provided by the constant interaction of cultures in the contemporary world.

inIVA
institute of international visual arts
6-8 Standard Place, Rivington Street
London EC2A 3BE
Tel: 020 7729 9616
Fax: 020 7729 9509

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