Presidential Seal, 2006, kennardphillipps

Photo Op, 2005, kennardphillipps Happened Dawn, 2012, Hanaa’ Malallah Flag 2, 2012, Hanaa’ Malallah

Press release For immediate release, March 13 2012

Hanaaʼ Malallah & kennardphillipps Iraq: How, Where, For Whom?

20 April - 8 June 2012 (Private view, 6.30-8pm, Thursday 19 April 2012) The Mosaic Rooms, 226 Cromwell Road, , SW5 0SW

The Mosaic Rooms is honoured to present a collaborative exhibition between the distinguished Iraqi artist Hanaaʼ Malallah and the UK duo kennardphillipps, which will open on April 20 2012. Hanaaʼ Malallah is regarded as one of Iraqʼs leading and most innovative contemporary artists. kennardphillipps (Peter Kennard and Cat Phillipps) have been working together since 2003 to produce work in reaction to the invasion of Iraq. The three artists have developed this exhibition in response to each otherʼs practises, creating a uniquely resonant conversation on the invasion/occupation of Iraq.

This exhibition will include large-scale collages, installations, photomontage pieces and sculptures. kennardphillippsʼ work manipulates and subverts press material on the Iraq war to create opposing images and narratives. The works featured range from those that directly adapt media imagery for immediate impact, like Photo Op, which places an image of a smiling against a backdrop of an explosion, to those that require the viewer to make closer inspection, such as Presidential Seal, a 7m long by 2.7m high work made up of newspaper clippings about the Iraq war, which the duo have then painted and drawn upon.

Malallahʼs work uses burnt canvas, cloths, wire, found objects and paint to create violently abstract yet sensuous pieces. Using what the artist refers to as her ʻruins techniqueʼ, her work not only testifies to the destruction of Iraq, but also to the transformative potential of destruction. This distinctly powerful use of materials can be seen, for example, in Happened Dawn, which is composed of layers of burnt canvas, clothes and paint. The exhibition features many new works by the artist, exhibited here for the first time. These include some more figurative works, such as flag 2, which employs the same techniques in a more direct use of imagery.

In both artistic approaches, questions are raised over the claims that the invasion of Iraq brought freedom and a better future to its people. But the artists also interrogate and subvert the powerful tools of modern mass media, posing questions about democracy and the representation of conflict and inviting us to become more rigorous and engaged spectators.

To accompany the exhibition, The Mosaic Rooms are publishing a special exhibition catalogue. This features an essay by Dr Alan Ingram, who currently holds a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship for his research project Art and War: Responses to Iraq. kennardphillipps and Hanaaʼ Malallah will give an artistsʼ talk at The Mosaic Rooms on 12th May at 12.

The Mosaic Rooms will also be running a special programme of talks and events during the exhibition on the nature of democracy and protest entitled WHAT PURPOSE FREE SPEECH WHEN NO ONE LISTENS? More details on the full programme will be published soon. kennardphillipps is a collective of two British artists Peter Kennard and Cat Phillipps. They have exhibited internationally, including in group shows at the , V&A, Design Museum, and . Their work is in a number of important collections, including the V&A and Imperial War Museum.

Hanaa’ Malallah has been working in the UK since 2007. She studied at the Institute of Fine Arts Baghdad under the great master-painter Shaker Hassan Al- Said. She has taught and lectured at the Institute and the University in Baghdad and is currently a fellow of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. She has exhibited internationally in a number of solo and group shows. Her work is in a number of important collections, including at the British Museum.

For further information contact: Rachael Hornsby at The Mosaic Rooms Tel: 020 7370 9990 [email protected]

Notes to editors

• Hanaaʼ Malallah and kennardphillipps are available for interview via The Mosaic Rooms

• Images from the exhibition are available via The Mosaic Rooms

• Entry to the exhibition is free

• Copies of the exhibition catalogue will be available to buy from The Mosaic Roomsʼ bookshop.

• The Mosaic Rooms are open from 11am – 6pm Tuesday to Saturday. It will also hold an Open Sunday from 12-5pm on Sunday May 27.

• The Mosaic Rooms, a leading independent arts space in west London, deliver a high quality, contemporary and progressive cultural programme from the Arab world and internationally. They are managed by the A.M. Qattan Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to the support of culture and education in Palestine and the Arab world. The Foundationʼs London office, headed by one of its trustees, Omar Al-Qattan, is responsible for the Mosaic Roomsʼ programme. The Rooms are part of the Culture and Arts Programme of the A.M. Qattan Foundation.

• The Mosaic Rooms is situated on the corner of the Cromwell Road and Earlʼs Court Road in Kensington, London, a short walk from Earlʼs Court Underground Station and Exhibition Centre.

• For further information about The Mosaic Rooms and the A.M. Qattan Foundation visit www.mosaicrooms.org