Lydia Ourahmane
Lydia Ourahmane (b. 1992, Algeria, lives and works in London, Algiers and Barcelona) is an artist whose installations, videos, sculptures, and sound works create situations and structures that have repercussions beyond the walls of the institution. Exploring landscapes of displacement and community, her work examines how the movement of objects and people is influenced by factors such as state restrictions and invisible barriers.
Ourahmane graduated with a BA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths University in 2014 and has exhibite internationally since then. Her work has been shown at the 60th Venice Biennale; 15th Gwangju Biennale; the 34th São Paulo Biennial; Manifesta 12, Palermo; and the 15th Istanbul Biennial. Ourahmane’s recent solo exhibitions among others include: MACBA, Barcelona; Sculpture Centre, New York; Rhizome, Algiers; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Portikus, Frankfurt; Kunsthalle Basel; S.M.A.K, Gent; Triangle France, Marseille; as well as Chisenhale Gallery London.
Haraga – The Burning
2014
Video 3 min 37 sec
Courtesy of the artist
Presented with the support of AC/E – Acción Cultural Española
The term haraga, meaning “burning” in Arabic, refers to the act of migrants deliberately destroying their identification documents before embarking on dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean in small boats, hoping to reach Europe. This act of erasure is both literal and symbolic: a burning of identity, past, and legality in pursuit of a new beginning.
The work comprises three films shot on a phone, sent to the artist by a young Algerian man named Houari. In these videos his friends speak candidly about their dreams, fears, and aspirations as they share an inflatable boat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Spanish shore. The raw footage captures a moment suspended between hope and uncertainty, offering a glimpse into the emotional landscape of migration from the perspective of those enduring it. In this work Ourahmane invites viewers to reflect on the narratives and deeply personal choices that underpin acts of migration, and to consider what is lost, what is carried, and what is transformed in the pursuit of freedom.