Emii Alrai

From Sat 15 Feb View Venues, Dates & Times

 A sequence of darkening rooms emulate archaeological digs

Emii Alrai weaves together ancient mythologies from the Middle East and oral histories from her own Iraqi heritage to create objects which imitate archaeological artefacts.

Responding to Compton Verney’s nationally important Naples Collection, this new commission by Alrai considers themes of volcanic eruption and geological rupture as metaphors for our times. Through a sequence of darkening rooms that emulate nightscapes and archaeological digs, the artist will dramatise the moment of discovery, just like the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun lit by a single match.

Emii Alrai (b.1993) is an artist, ex-museum registrar and writer. Alrai’s work investigates memory, critiques the western museological structure and explores the complexity of ruins. Working primarily in sculpture and installation, her work operates as large-scale realms built in relation to bodies of research concerning archaeology and the natural environments objects are excavated from.

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