I’d search forever, I want to remember
24 June 2024, The Citadel, Dover, UK

A multidisciplinary body of work by artist Tamara Al-Mashouk that asks if water and place remember the way our bodies do.

The exhibition features a wave machine containing water from the English Channel brought in as witness, a three-channel film that explores the psyche of a disused detention centre in Dover and a photographic series that engages with the shoreline as a site of poetic multiplicity.

I’d search forever, I want to remember was presented in June at The Citadel, Dover and in July at Frieze’s No.9 Cork Street, London, 2023.

Dover: Set in a fortress dating back to the 18th century on the cliffs of the Wester Heights of Dover, the day-long programme featured an exhibition, guided tours with Al-Mashouk and her creative team, ceramics and craft workshops centering memory and place, two dance performances by Fadi Giha + food and drinks.

The programme began at 11am and culminated at sunset with a participatory performance inviting the audience to hold space together with the artist for a moment of collective remembrance.

In London the artworks were exhibited at Frieze’s No.9 Cork Street, alongside images taken in Dover and artefacts created during workshops there. Fadi Giha performed on opening night, July 20th.

I’d search forever, I want to remember is the culmination of a body of work that Al-Mashouk began in 2018 with a 10.5 hour durational performance titled Can you die if you don’t exist? where she read the names of 34,361 refugees who died on their way to Europe off The List (compiled and published by UNITED for Intercultural Action – campaign ‘Fortress Europe No More Deaths’).