In The New Babylonians, Gil Mualem-Doron presents several socially engaged art projects, some exhibited previously at the Tate Modern, Liverpool Museum and the Turner Contemporary.
The exhibition presents a complex and challenging participatory project on the theme of belonging, memory, place and identity that has resulted in captivating art that captures the spirit of our times and this great city. This city is New Babylon, not exactly the fantastical playground envisaged by the Dutch artist Constant Nieuwenhuys in the late sixties, nor the city where a tower is built, tall enough to reach heaven. The New Babylonians are the people of a town that, as William Morris envisioned, is nowhere, yet the foundations of that city can be seen everywhere if you care to look.
At the heart of the exhibition is a large room installation – “Mesubim” (meaning in Hebrew ‘to go around’ as well as ‘sit at a dining table’). The installation comprises of a series of hand-drawn and digital collages printed on porcelain plates and a recording of conversations with the participants. The work is based on a six-month participatory art workshop with a group of refugee members of the English Migrant Project who meet weekly to learn English and eat a home-cooked meal together. The collages were created through conversations and online searches for images of places from where they came, juxtaposing them with places in Brighton, where they currently live.
The second project in the exhibition is ‘The New Union Flag project’ – a proposal for a new flag for the UK that reflects on the UK’s colonial past and celebrates the country’s cultural diversity. Beginning at the end of 2014, a few months before Brexit, ‘The New Union Flag project’ has been touring the country and engaged with ten of thousands of people, among them Labour Leader Jeremy Corbin, through workshops in schools and museums, photo shoots, exhibitions, street interventions and demonstrations. The project has won the support of Art Council England and Counterpoints Arts. The exhibition will present a short history of the project and a short film by Marcia Chandra about the project during its exhibition at Tate Modern in 2017.
In ONCA’s lower basement gallery, Mualem-Doron will exhibit his new participatory project, ‘Protesting For Diversity’. ‘Protesting For Diversity’ is an online campaign for cultural diversity created collectively by various groups in the UK through art workshops, photo shoots and rallies. The project responds to the huge rise in hate crimes in the UK post-Brexit, the rampant xenophobia in the mainstream media, and the derision politicians level at the importance of cultural diversity. As part of the exhibition, visitors are invited on Saturday, 23 June to participate in a placard-making workshop. The placards will be taken on 24 June for a ‘Refugees are Welcome’ parade in Brighton, organized by Hummingbird Project and for a photo shoot at the Together event at the Dome.
EVENTS
21 June 6 – 8pm // Private View with artist talk & live music by Jamal Alsakka
23 June, 1-4pm // Refugees Welcome Parade – Placard-making workshop & photoshoot
24 June, 11am – 4pm // Brighton Dome: Refugees Welcome Parade
