Gallery opening times:
Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd August, 12pm – 5pm
Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th August, 12pm-5pm
Preview: Friday 1st August, 6-8pm
In her first solo exhibition, Alia Gargum explores a Western, colonialist view of the veiled
woman, and her fear of this gaze, as the title of the show translates to in Arabic.
In a continual exploration of her Libyan heritage and the process of losing a culture
under a displacement from itself, this exhibition seeks to articulate how the Western
gaze defines veiled women against Gargum’s childhood memory. Fabric, metal, and
salted pigment form a visual language, and Gargum uses them in this work to claim a
space within the gallery for memories to temporarily take form. The gallery space serves
as sacred ground; within the folds of fabric, echoing traditional Libyan dress, the room is
redefined as a sanctuary. ‘Ḵawwāfa’, the feminine of ‘to be fearful’ in Arabic, and at
times used as a mocking term, alludes to the complicated nature of losing identity and
heritage. Within this temporary monument to perceptions of the veil, and in particular
femme traditional Libyan garments, Gargum seeks to engage viewers in examining their
own fears, stereotypes and prejudices
The former 36 Lime Street Gallery was established in 2009 as an artist run space to provide a platform for emerging and established artists to experiment and take risks with new work. Selected by committee from an open call, 8 proposals are selected and exhibited throughout the year.
The gallery space continues to provide a platform as 36.
