Bio

Jala Wahid (*1988) works across sculpture, film, sound and installation. Her practice looks to the emotive potential of material and politics in exploring the machinations and legacy of empire, colonialism and Kurdish diaspora. Aesthetically alluring, sensual and often delirious her works seek to establish a counter narrative to colonial rhetoric, bringing together contested histories and poetic expression. She is interested in the complexities of nationalism, history, iconography and methods of archiving and existence.

Jala Wahid received her BA from Goldsmiths College, London in 2014 and completed her PgDip in Fine Art at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2019.

Selected solo exhibitions include: I Love Ancient Baby at GAK, Bremen,  Conflagration, Tramway, Glasgow, and later at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton; Metaphysical Reunification, SOPHIE TAPPEINER, Vienna, Mock Kings, Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg (2023); Conflagration, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle, AFTERMATH, Niru Ratnam Gallery, London (2022); Rock Fortress, CAS Batumi, Batumi, Cry Me a Waterfall, Two Queens, Leicester (2021); Rock Fortress E.A. Shared Space, Tbilisi (2020); Newroz, SOPHIE TAPPEINER, Vienna (2019); Akh Milk Bile Threat, Seventeen Gallery, London, Shahmaran, Clearview, London (2017).

Recently, her work has been included in group shows held at the following institutions: Primary, Nottingham, Nottingham (2024), Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds, Stavanger Kunstmuseum, Stavanger, Boskamp-Stiftung, Hohenlockstedt (2023), Goldsmiths CCA, London (2022), CAPC Museum, Bordeaux (2020) SculptureCenter, New York, Arnolfini, Bristol, De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill (2019), Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham (2018).

Wahid co-edited SALT. Magazine from 2012-2019.

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