The work of Rosalind Nashashibi investigates micro-societies and contemporary myth making, blurring the line between the invented and the real. Her deliberate and nuanced films are visually compelling with an emphasis on framing, pattern and rhythm. Charmer will include three film-based works and a series of new photographs.

Hreash House (2004), follows three generations of a Palestinian family living on the edge of Nazareth in an ever-expanding concrete block of their own construction. The film presents a lifestyle that seems alien to the Western idea of a family unit. Instead, it is closer to the ancient model of the family as a tribe or community unto itself. Hreash House documents the communal activities and everyday rituals of the Hreash family as they prepare for, enjoy, and relax after a Ramadan feast. Nashashibi allows us a glimpse of Palestinian life from the perspective of a small but highly organized social nucleus, thereby undermining the stereotypes shown in the media.

Made during Nashashibi’s recent Scottish Arts Council Residency in Manhattan, the 16 mm film, Eyeballing (2005) finds elements of human faces in the inanimate objects and architecture of an unfamiliar city. Nashashibi juxtaposes these face-monuments with the archetype of city authority: the New York City Police Officer.

In Adrian Noble Rehearses the RSC in Measure for Measure (2006) Nashashibi presents found television footage of an 80’s theatre rehearsal to show the energy conjured by group interpretation, and the uncanny sight of actors slipping in and out of character. As with all the films, Adrian Noble Rehearses… further reveals the artist’s interest in the exchange between the quotidian and the glamour of mythology.