this was a mosque /
هذا كان مسجد

Review by Tom Jeffreys for Art Monthly

“Alia Gargum’s ‘This was a Mosque / هذا كان مسجد’ is an intense, beautiful, multi-layered solo exhibition that evokes half-details of vivid memories and lost places. Exploring the role of heritage for those who experience forced migration, Gargum’s work navigates diasporic identity through and against institutional architectures of power. The exhibition was recently shown at the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle, where cascades of lush green fabric were wrapped around the Edwardian-era building’s rather grandiose internal columns. Here, in an empty retail unit next to a Warhammer store, a poetic audio piece draws you into the exhibition. Inside, there is metal coated in verdigris and traces of rust visible across the green; the experience is at once materially rich and comparatively minimal. Most of the materials have been reused – wood from church pews, metal from previous sculptures. Gargum tells me that the migratory experience informs her approach: if the world can be turned against you at any moment, you’ll always be ready to pack up and leave. The title is a reference to Israel’s destruction of mosques in Gaza.”

Middlesbrough Art Week took place from 26 September to 5 October 2024.

Tom Jeffreys is a writer based in Edinburgh.

First published in Art Monthly 481: November 2024.