IMMA presents the first survey exhibition of acclaimed artist Emily Jacir’s work in Ireland. Europa (the Italian and Arabic word for “Europe”) presents sculpture, film, drawings, large-scale installations and photography that focus on her work in Europe, in particular Italy and the Mediterranean. Renowned for work that is as poetic as it is political and biographical, Jacir investigates silenced historical narratives, translation, movement, resistance, transformation and exchange.
The first iteration of Europa took place at Whitechapel Gallery, London in late 2015. For IMMA, Jacir will present seminal artworks alongside newly commissioned projects which reflect the strong links between Palestine and Ireland, and the shared history of British Colonial Rule. These include her new site-specific project Notes for a Cannon (2016), which takes as its point of departure the Clock Tower that once stood at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem. It was destroyed by the British in 1922, under the command of Ronald Storrs, the British Military Governor of the occupied city.
Works in the exhibition include ex libris (2010–2012), originally commissioned by dOCUMENTA (13), which commemorates the approximately thirty thousand books from Palestinian homes, libraries, and institutions that were looted by Israeli authorities in 1948 and ENTRY DENIED (a concert in Jerusalem) (2003), a full length concert performed by Austrian nationals who were scheduled to perform in Jerusalem and Bethlehem but denied entry at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport for “security reasons”. Jacir has built a complex and compelling oeuvre through a diverse range of media and methodologies that include unearthing historic material, performative gestures and in-depth research.
Europa is presented as part of an exciting on-going initiative, New Art at IMMA, proudly supported by Matheson, which allows IMMA to continue to support artists’ vital work in a strand of programming that recognises and nurtures new and emerging talents, new thinking and new forms of exhibition-making.
