The artist Jasleen Kaur was born in Glasgow in 1986. She studied at Glasgow Faculty of Artwork and later on the Royal School, and had her first solo present, Be Like Teflon, in London in 2021. She works primarily with installations, utilizing on a regular basis objects to discover identification, cultural reminiscence and political belonging. Earlier this month, Kaur gained the Turner prize for her 2023 exhibition Alter Altar on the Tramway in Glasgow, which memorably featured a duplicate of her dad’s pink Ford Escort lined in an outsized doily. A bunch present of this 12 months’s shortlisted artists’ work is at Tate Britain till 16 February. Kaur lives and works in London.
1. Artwork
Gaza Biennale
I heard about this on the night of the Turner prize ceremony: a few of the people protesting exterior the Tate [calling for institutional divestment from ties to Israel and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza] have additionally been organising with the artists in Gaza who’re placing on their very own biennale. I don’t know what to say about the truth that, amid complete destruction, artists in Gaza are placing on a biennale. I might say that it reveals one thing concerning the energy of artwork. However it additionally looks like a name to the worldwide artwork neighborhood to hear. It’s a degree of connection, it’s an try at connection or dialog.
2. Movie
Kneecap
I discover that the vitality of [the Northern Irish hip-hop trio] Kneecap feels actually important – they’re completely trustworthy in talking fact to energy. The movie is the closely fictionalised origin story of the band, who rap within the Irish language. A few issues stood out to me. One was a couple of relationship to music that’s anti-imperial, one thing I’m fascinated about in my very own life and follow. The movie additionally tells how every of us has a political voice and the necessity to train it. These working-class rappers have a spot to push issues ahead.
3. Nonfiction
Island of Us: Conversations About Justice With Youngsters by Jack Younger
It is a useful resource born out of a fantastic exhibition by Rory Pilgrim at Chisenhale gallery earlier this 12 months that includes work by people who find themselves incarcerated. This guide, developed from workshops with native main school-age kids, comprises conversations round justice and freedom. It jogged my memory of conversations I’ve with my very own youngsters. There are questions like: “If someone who’s actually poor steals an apple, what ought to occur?” The solutions are actually considerate. I simply assume younger persons are unimaginable. I discovered lots from it.
4. Singing
F*Choir
The place to start with the pressure that’s F*Choir? They’re a queer-led choir primarily based in London. I noticed them carry out with my youngsters on the Walthamstow Trades Corridor two years in the past. I’ve additionally marched with them throughout Palestine protests and been to open singing periods with them. I’m simply so in awe on the manner that they practise singing in neighborhood with such dedication. They’ve bought this session referred to as Singing to Keep Alive. You possibly can guide to sing with them, and you actually really feel that singing collectively is a part of dwelling. It’s a life pressure.
5. Fiction
We Are Made from Diamond Stuff by Isabel Waidner
As somebody who’s closely dyslexic, I discover studying actually arduous. Just lately a good friend mentioned: “Put down your concept books and choose up some fiction.” So I went to a bookshop and intentionally selected books that had been skinny, with a font that I might address. I wished to take a look at Isabel Waidner, who writes actually skinny fiction, and so they’ve bought me hooked. This novel takes place on the Isle of Wight. There are protests and local weather migrants and right-wing LGBTQ+ factions. Their writing is so visible, it’s like a movie, and every sentence is like one thing I’ve by no means learn earlier than.
6. Poetry
June Jordan
The distilled language of poets reminiscent of June Jordan is bringing a lot solace at a time when language is type of failing. I’ve determined that Jordan is one among my ancestors. Her poetry and her political life weren’t separate and she or he had the flexibility to get to the center of issues with so few phrases. Her [1982] poem Apologies to All of the Folks in Lebanon is heartbreaking. You learn it and assume, it should have been written now, certainly.
7. Music
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
We had been filming up in Glasgow for the Turner prize and one of many crew who had been driving us round had an album by Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh enjoying, and his music has been carrying me by means of the previous months. The fiddle actually will get to my coronary heart. I really feel prefer it’s a part of my ancestry, it strikes me in the best way that an Indian stringed instrument may. This album [Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh & Thomas Bartlett] is absolutely comforting nevertheless it’s additionally a lament, and there are occasions when the fiddle is barely even enjoying, it’s only a scratch of a string.
