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Jala Wahid, The Profitless Gift, 2021

Jala Wahid

The Profitless Gift, 2021
Resin, fibreglass
244 x 102 x 53cm
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A drama spanning 1918-1926, the work is a ‘play’ comprised of intelligence reports, secret correspondence, departmental conferences, treaties and political writing during a time when Britain politically occupied parts of...
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A drama spanning 1918-1926, the work is a ‘play’ comprised of intelligence reports, secret correspondence, departmental conferences, treaties and political writing during a time when Britain politically occupied parts of Greater Kurdistan. Through the lens of affective political language, it mines the decision-making process and political agendas which determined the future of modern-day Kurdistan. The format of the ‘play’ not only speaks to the performativity of politics and protest, but also pays homage to the history of Kurdish theatre as a vehicle for nationalism and a crucial tool in politicizing Kurds beyond the capability of printed literature. Theatre became the immaterial monument, evading censorship whilst reifying an identity and culture, asserting a future and ultimately, operating as proof of existence. But to give them complete autonomy would be, in the words of a Greek poet quoted by a British politician in the National Archives, “a gift that is no gift, but profitless.”


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Exhibitions

2021 - Testament, CCA Goldsmiths, London
2021 - AFTERMATH, Niru Ratnam, London
2023 - Conflagration, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton
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