BRISTOL, England — A young artist’s decision to fill a cavernous gallery space can be bold and meaningful. Libyan artist Nour Jaouda’s inaugural solo exhibition transforms Spike Island’s expansive central gallery into a more intimate experience by placing a tent at its core. This handcrafted fabric installation, bearing semi-abstract botanical patterns, exemplifies Jaouda’s artistic quest to capture the transient and resilient qualities of both her work and the environments it references.
Entitled “The iris grows on both sides of the fence” (2025), the installation serves as a contemplative retreat, conceived collaboratively with artisans from Chariah-el-Khayamia, the renowned street in Cairo for tent makers who create temporary spaces for community gatherings during festivals. According to the wall text, this tent invites visitors to gather and reflect on landscapes that have been disturbed or taken away. With its draping sides, Jaouda’s tent functions more as a passage rather than a space conducive to prolonged mourning, providing limited seating and navigating space around other viewers.
Yet, the installation poignantly evokes a space for contemplating lost landscapes. The tent’s decoration features botanical patterns, prominently including the partially abstracted Faqqua iris, Palestine’s national flower. This symbol resonates with themes of resistance and hope while simultaneously reflecting on the lost lives and cultural identity resulting from the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The textile panels, exhibiting layered hues reminiscent of earth tones, suggest a land imbued with cultural memory—a place that is both fragile and deeply significant.
Jaouda’s exhibition further showcases wall-mounted works specifically created for this presentation. These pieces embody her meticulous process, characterized by hand-dyeing fabric using natural pigments before transforming these into intricate tapestry-like forms. Suspended slightly from the walls, the artworks feature natural gaps that expose the intricacies of their assembly. Unlike traditional appliqué, these pieces are crafted piece by piece, forming a unified, elaborate patchwork that embodies an act of reparation and healing.
In her artistic journey, each creation is partly composed of remnants from previous projects, establishing a continuous cycle of creativity that mirrors themes of transience, continuity, and memory—elements synonymous with collective remembrance. The distinction between her studio and the exhibition space blurs through her methods, such as using leftover fabric mounted on metal frameworks to create a threshold at the gallery’s entrance, marking a space interwoven with history, memory, and landscape reimagining.
Nour Jaouda: Matters of Time continues at Spike Island (133 Cumberland Road, Bristol, United Kingdom) through January 11, 2026. The exhibition was organized by the institution.
