Ali or eli

2005

Visual Arts

Artist/s: Khaled Sabsabi

Ali or Eli was a solo exhibition by Khaled Sabsabi presented simultaneously at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and Campbelltown Arts Centre from 14 October to 13 November 2005. The exhibition was accompanied by a 20-page colour catalogue published by both institutions, with a foreword by the then directors, a conversation between Sabsabi and Anna Bazzi Backhouse, a catalogue essay by Ian Hobbs, and a list of works. The National Library of Australia records the publication under the title Ali or Eli: Khaled Sabsabi, with the alternate title Khaled Sabsabi: Ali or Eli.

The project explored questions of migration, exile, belonging, displacement and cultural identity through Sabsabi’s multimedia practice. In a later published conversation, Sabsabi described Ali or Eli as symbolic of two spaces and two personal experiences: being “in one place but continuously getting overwhelmed by another space,” reflecting the condition of living across places, histories and realities. The work emerged through the distinct architectural and cultural contexts of Casula Powerhouse and the newly developed Campbelltown Arts Centre, with Sabsabi noting that the project poetically resolved the differences between the two sites.