Tasneem Gallery

We will screen the powerful video, ¨Here is the Brick¨ a collaborative work by the British artists, Mahtab Hussain and Guy Gunaratne. It is a poignant thought-provoking account of how British Asian identities have been framed through anti-racist resistance movements of the 70s and 80s, cultural figures such as Mo Saleh and Prince Naseem Hamed. It also explores Islamaphobia, post 9/11 and the force of international political context. Whilst the footage and events are historic, the issues seem ever present.

The video is remarkable for its technique which contrives to cohere fast moving images, text, narration and sound, creating an almost hypnotic effect. Guy Gunaratne explains how ´you will hear repetitions of phrases, or a borrowed piece of commentary that creates an interesting irony when read over a specific image. These juxtapositions are everywhere in the film. These choices are made deep in the edit, and I’ve always felt that it’s very much akin to painting with rhythm, you push an image or a piece of sound around as you would paint. Sometimes it works, sometimes is doesn’t – other times happy accidents occur when sound over image creates a wonderful tension´

This poetical approach to the construction of the film reinforces its emotional and political intentions, as articulated by Mahtab Hussian “For generations, history, politics and popular culture have constructed a monster around the South Asian Muslim experience. Here Is the Brick asks us to look that monster directly in the eye, to confront the damage it has inflicted upon us all, and to begin dismantling it, one frame at a time. In doing so, I hope we can move beyond shame, fear and the limitations of our own egos, towards a more generous understanding of one another and our collective responsibility to imagine, and actively build, a utopian future.”

First shown at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, England, the work has found deep resonance with people and institutions alike. It has been selected for this year´s Bangkok Biennale) where the curatorial team includes Melanie Pocock and is also part of London Hayward Gallery´s touring exhibition, British Art Show 10) curated by Ekow Eshun.

We are delighted to be able to show it here in Barcelona as well.

Mahtab Hussain (b. 1981) is a British artist working across photography, moving image, sculpture and installation. Born in Glasgow and raised in Birmingham, his practice explores the complexities of identity, belonging, heritage and representation, with a particular focus on the experiences of British Muslim and South Asian communities.

Over the past two decades, Hussain has developed a multidisciplinary practice examining the intersections of race, religion, masculinity, migration and collective memory. His work challenges dominant cultural narratives and inherited stereotypes, creating space for alternative histories and more nuanced representations of communities often marginalised within the British cultural landscape. Increasingly, his practice also engages with spirituality, ritual, gender and the fluidity of identity.

Hussain has received numerous awards and distinctions throughout his career, including winning Culture Cloud at New Art Exchange, First Prize at FORMAT International Photography Festival, and the Discoveries Award at FotoFest Houston. He has also been nominated three times for the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. His international recognition includes artist residencies with Light Work and Autograph ABP, alongside his appointment as the Stuart B. Cooper Endowed Chair in Photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Hussain’s work is held in numerous public and institutional collections internationally, including the Arts Council Collection, Government Art Collection, Autograph ABP, Birmingham Museums Trust, Brooklyn Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, and the New York Public Library

Guy Gurantane is a novelist, playwright, and visual artist based in London. Before turning to fiction, Gunaratne was a video journalist and documentary filmmaker, covering human rights issues around the world – among them post-conflict Sri Lanka and the lives of formerly abducted child soldiers and returnees in Northern Uganda.

Gunaratne’s debut novel, In Our Mad and Furious City (2018), won the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Jhalak Prize, and the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and the Gordon Burn Prize, and longlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. His second novel, Mister, Mister, was published in 2023.

Gunaratne was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2024. He has judged the Goldsmiths Prize (2019) and the Rathbones Folio Prize (2023).