On the occasion of Rana Begum’s solo exhibition, Dappled Light, traveling to Concrete, the artist along with the show’s curator, Cliff Lauson, will be in conversation with Kevin Jones. During the session they will discuss their ongoing collaboration on this exhibition, which has been shown at Mead Gallery (2022) and Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery (2022) before coming to Dubai.

6.30-7PM
28 February 2023
The Yard

About the speakers

Rana Begum

Rana Begum is an Anglo-Bangladeshi contemporary artist who experiments with the boundaries between painting, design, and architecture. She is influenced by both Minimalism and her childhood experiences of Islam and Islamic art and architecture. Born in Sylhet, eastern Bangladesh, the artist moved to England when she was eight-years-old. She now lives and works in London and describes it as a city that is “'constantly morphing and changing.”

Rana combines her early childhood's sense of steady repetition and calm contemplation with urban structures and industrial materials to create a conversation between form, colour, and light. The artist finds inspiration in her childhood memories of light hitting the water in Bangladesh's rice fields, as well as the ritual of praying five times a day.

Dr. Cliff Lauson

Dr Cliff Lauson has recently been appointed as director of exhibitions at Somerset House, London. He was formerly senior curator at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre since 2009, where he has organised major exhibitions of work by Bridget Riley, Matthew Barney, Martin Creed, Ernesto Neto, Tracey Emin, and David Shrigley, and the group exhibitions Light Show and Space Shifters. He has also curated numerous exhibitions in the HENI Project Space, as well as commissioned artworks and projects across the wider Southbank Centre site.

Dr Lauson has previously held positions at Tate Modern and the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. He currently serves on the British Council Collection Acquisitions Advisory Committee, is a Trustee of Film and Video Umbrella, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. He is also the curator of Rana Begum’s solo exhibition Dappled Light.

About Majlis Talks

Majlis Talks, curated by Mahnaz Fancy, bring together artists, curators, researchers and art-world professionals for an evening of thoughtful and inspiring conversations.

The majlis has always provided the necessary form to plant the seeds of connections; a common ground for discussion and sharing. From the majlis we begin a convergence of differences, mingling vantage points, allowing new questions to rise.

Starting at 4pm on 28 February 2023 and running across six 25-minute sessions, this year’s Majlis Talks will see conversations with Fatima Ali, Lubnah Ansari, Loa Haagen Pictet, Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, Sara Raza, Rana Begum, Dr Cliff Lauson and more.