Fatima Atfa (Abu Dhabi)
The Cultural Foundation presents the exhibition “How to Live, How to Live” for the Algerian artist Zeinab Sedira. The exhibition, which runs until March 8, 2025, focuses on artist Sedira’s film practice from 2002 to 2022. Her work delves into themes of identity, memory, culture and resistance through several short films, the first of which is titled: “Dreams Have No Titles” (2022), a film that reflects on Sedira’s personal life and Comprehensive film presentation. This book autobiographically tells the history of Algeria’s anti-colonial cinema in the postcolonial and integration stages, as well as her personal life experiences in the context of avant-garde experimental cinema and diasporic narratives.
The second film, Mother Tongue (2002), uses three screens to show conversations with three generations of women: the artist Zainab, her mother and her daughter, and explores how the transference of memory develops. It is considered one of Sedira’s most famous installations.
The third film, Mise-en-Scene (2019), reassembles archival footage from Algerian anti-colonial films of the 1960s to tell a new story about key historical moments in Algeria and the collaborative spirit of struggling filmmakers. The erosion of metaphorical memory and the challenge of archival preservation.
Sedira’s films are internationally recognized for fusing archives, oral histories and insightful storytelling between official histories and personal and family stories, challenging and reinterpreting existing narratives with nuanced perspectives and providing insights into the personal and political Concept insights.
Notably, Zainab Sedira was born in 1963 to Algerian parents, and her work explores themes rooted in her personal life and addresses broader global issues related to cultural liberation and the complexities of diaspora issues.
