Talisman
Kupol LR 3303 Talisman 01, 02, and 03, 2024
Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation, Alia Farid’s recent work explores the material impact of oil extraction in the Arab Gulf through two predominant materials; blue faience, an aqua glaze that dates back 6000 years, and polyester resin, a byproduct of petroleum production that originated in the 20th century. This work, from a series of six plates commissioned for Sharjah Biennial 16, builds on research conducted in Stanford University into thousands of Iraqi objects and records withheld in the US. The work encompasses the artist’s ongoing experiments with a type of resin manufactured by United Oil Projects called Kupol LR 3303 which she layers with images tracing her matriarchal lineage as well as Iraqi spiritual traditions that assume the form of charts and cosmological maps.
Kupol LR 3303 Talisman 01, 02, and 03, 2024 (right to left), fiberglass and polyester resin (Kupol LR 3303 manufactured by United Oil Projects Company, Kuwait), photocopy paper, ink, stainless steel, 243 x 183 x 15 cm each
Installation view: Sharjah Biennial 16, Al Hamriyah Studios, Sharjah, 2025. Photo: Danko Stjepanovic
Elsewhere text 1
Elsewhere, 2023
Drawing from photographs, archival material, and interviews with local people, these sixteen hand-woven and embroidered rugs detail cityscapes – buildings, shop fronts, and adverts – that conjure the presence of the Palestinian diaspora in Puerto Rico. Pharmacies and restaurants, owned and operated by Palestinians, are woven alongside brightly coloured mosques and a menu detailing ‘Arabic cuisine’. The result of a close collaboration with weavers in Samawa, in southern Iraq, the textiles have been crafted through a combination of flat weaving and chain stitching specific to the region. Architecture, script (Arabic and Spanish) and traditional woven motifs recur throughout, illuminating how migration from one region in the Global South to another, brings forth new meanings, forms, and expressions of shared struggle and solidarity. Hanging in two parallel rows, the installation creates panoramic views, and a layering of lived history and daily routine.