Without Boundaries 2002:

Isaac Julien and Alia Syed

For the third time Picture This was invited to curate the artist’s film and video strand at Brief Encounters in 2002. As in previous years the programmes celebrate significant British artists and film-makers.

Alia Syed

Alia Syed brings together social concerns, issues of representation and fragmented narratives to make poetic documentaries. Picture This worked with INIVA to bring together a comprehensive survey. The screening comprised Swan (1989), The Watershed (1995), Spoken Diary (2001) and Fatima’s Letter (1994) and was followed by an on-stage interview by Maggie Ellis (Production Executive, London Film and Video Development Agency). The discussion focused on the ideological differences between gallery-based work and works made for the cinema. At Spike Island, Alia Syed’s film Swan was installed as a looped 16mm projection in a specially constructed box in the main exhibition space at Spike Island. Additionally, a piece entitled Humera’s Foot was shown as a three-monitor DVD installation.

Isaac Julien
Isaac Julien is one of Britain’s foremost artist filmmakers acclaimed for his arresting single screen works and for his vibrant gallery installations. Moving deftly between film-world and art-world, he remains one of the most original voices on the contemporary scene and was nominated for the 2001 Turner Prize. The screening comprised Territories (1984), The Attendant (1993), The Long Road to Mazatlan (1999) and Vagabondia (2000), and Isaac Julien was brought over from USA to talk about his work in conversation with Gary Thomas (Visual Arts Officer (Artist’s Film and Video), Arts Council England). A compelling speaker, Julien gave a fascinating insight into the concerns in his work, particularly his use of the fantasmic as a form of political reparation, the dilemma of mixing politics with beauty and the place of self-imaging and personal preoccupations in his films.

Exhibition:
22 November 2002, Watershed Alia Syed screening and artist’s talk
23 November 2002, Arnolfini Isaac Julien screening and artist’s talk
22 November – 6 December, Spike Island Alia Syed exhibition