 'in/tangible cartographies – new arab video' was commisioned by World Wide Video Festival 2001, and especially curated by Jayce Salloum.
An quietly potent invocation of ritual and heritage reinterpreting a Muslim talisman performed on Sedira in her teens. Traditionally a Muslim priest would write verses of the Koran on a piece of paper that would have to be carried or swallowed. This was often used to prevent young girls from becoming "too westernized". The ink on the paper precludes the more dramatic fate of the repeated haunting image found in the glass of water, frenetic spinning, the paper dematerializes under one's eyes. An analogy to the body of Christ, drinking the 'wine' and eating the 'bread' in Christian rituals. 'Don't do to her what you did to me' are some of the last words left by dying women and are used to exorcise the latter's sacrifice, to clear away from the western and Muslim conflicts. The tape adroitly speaks to the complexity of being a Muslim woman in an alienating environment while also questioning the effect of failed rituals.
– Jayce Salloum
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Zineb Sedira °1963 Paris, France
Lives and works in London, UK
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