Lida Abdul (Kabul, 1973). Lives and works in Los Angeles and Kabul.
The first artist of her country to represent Afghanistan at the 51st edition of the Venice Biennale in 2005, she was then selected to participate in numerous other Biennales and Triennales: São Paulo Biennial 2006; Gwangju Biennial 2006; Moscow Biennial 2007; Sharjah Biennial 2007; Göteborg Biennial 2007; Venice Biennale 2015; Busan Biennale 2016.
I have tried to comprehend the disaster that has ravaged my country for more than two decades. Language, notions of domesticity and perceptions of the other are all transformed so radically that survivors/refugees often refuse to talk. We have all known the history of this silence. There is always the fear that the works of these dissident artists, too close to an unfolding ‘politics’ may compromises their aesthetic intentions. In my work, I try to juxtapose the space of politics with the space of reverie, the space of shelter with that of the desert; in all of this I try to perform the ‘blank spaces’ that are formed when everything is taken away from people. – Lida Abdul

Time, Love and the Workings of Anti-Love II (2013-2017)
Installation view - Giorgio Persano Gallery 2018 Photo Nicola Morittu
Courtesy Giorgio Persano Gallery

Speaking and Hearing, 1999 – 2001
video
2’28’’
video still
Courtesy Giorgio Persano Gallery

Brick Sellers of Kabul, 2006
16mm film transferred to DVD
6'00''
video still
Courtesy Giorgio Persano Gallery

What We Have Overlooked, 2011
2-channel video, 16 mm film transferred to DVD
4’50’’
video still
Courtesy Giorgio Persano Gallery

In Transit 1, 2008
lambda print on plexiglass
180 x 240 cm
Courtesy Giorgio Persano Gallery

Dome, 2005
digital video
4’00’’
video still
Courtesy Giorgio Persano Gallery

White House 4, 2008
lambda print on aluminium
240 x 180 cm
Courtesy Giorgio Persano Gallery