Runa Islam

Runa Islam
Born (1970-12-10) 10 December 1970 (age 54)
Dhaka, East Bengal
NationalityBritish
EducationRoyal College of Art

Runa Islam (Bengali: রুনা ইসলাম; born 10 December 1970) is a Bangladeshi-born British visual artist and filmmaker based in London. She was a nominee for the 2008 Turner Prize. She is principally known for her film works.[1]

Early life

Islam was born in Dhaka, Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and moved to London aged three.[2] She attended the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, from 1997 to 1998.

In 1999, Islam exhibited at EASTinternational which was selected by Peter Doig and Roy Arden. She completed a M.Phil at the Royal College of Art, London, in 2004.

Career

Islam has been inspired by European auteurs such as Jean-Luc Godard.[3]

In 2005, she participated in the Venice Biennale.[4] Islam's 2006 16mm film installation Conditional Probability was the result of a residency at North Westminster Community School, in the final year before its closure.[5] It was first exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery and was said to "imbue even the most mundane dusty corner with a little visual magic".[6] The other artists included in the project to document the life of the school before it closed were Christian Boltanski, Faisal Abdu'allah and the architect Yona Friedman.[7]

In 2010, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (MCA) presented Runa Islam's first solo exhibition in Australia. Works included Magical Consciousness (2010), co-commissioned by the MCA and the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MACM)[8] and Scale (1/16 Inch = 1 Foot) featuring the now demolished Trinity Square (Gateshead) multi-storey car park.

Islam says, "I feel I've got a lot to say with film. The camera can go to impossible places. It can re-articulate time. Films from other epochs allow you to go back in time. But so much of contemporary life is also envisioned through film and TV. We remember people we've never met because we've seen them on a screen."[2]

The Museum of Modern Art held an exhibit of Islam's work in 2011, Project 95: Runa Islam, featuring films by Islam.[9][10] The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art featured a solo show of Islam's work from December 2016 through April 2017, Runa Islam, Verso.[11][12]

Awards and nominations

In 2008, Islam was nominated for the 2008 Turner Prize.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Fortnum, Rebecca (2007). Contemporary British Women Artists: In Their Own Words. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-84511-224-0. OCLC 693780688.
  2. ^ a b Davies, Serena (10 December 2005). "A cable car named desire". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2021. Islam was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, moving to London, now her base, when she was three.
  3. ^ Herbert, Martin (January 2006). "Cinematic affects: the art of Runa Islam". Artforum. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  4. ^ Spanier, Samson (July 2005). "Venice Biennale news: several countries are exhibiting at the Biennale for the first time this year, says Samson Spanier. But the important things—champagne and politics—have not changed". Apollo. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2008 – via FindArticles. ...but there are some strong works, such as London-based Bangladeshi Runa Islam's film...
  5. ^ "Runa Islam - Conditional Probability". Serpentine Gallery. October 2006. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  6. ^ Sooke, Alastair (31 October 2006). "In a class of her own". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  7. ^ Smithers, Rebecca (11 July 2006). "Gone but not forgotten". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Runa Islam". Museum of Contemporary Art. 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  9. ^ Rosenberg, Karen (18 August 2011). "The Magic of Movies, Born From a Single Snapshot". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Projects 95: Runa Islam". Museum of Modern Art. 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Runa Islam: Verso". San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 2016. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  12. ^ Akand, Shawon (2018). "Bangladesh". ArtAsiaPacific. 13: 85. ISSN 1558-8904. Two film-based installations by Runa Islam, along with other works, were featured at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in "Verso"
  13. ^ "Turner Prize: Nominees profiled". BBC News. 13 May 2008. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2012.

Interviews

Reviews