still from Part Three: The wind blows over the lake and stirs the surface of the water. Thus visible effects of the invisible show themselves © Rosalind Nashashibi

A Trilogy of Films: Part One, Part Two and Part Three

Part One: Where there is a joyous mood, there a comrade will appear to share a glass of wine. 22 mins

Part Two: The Moon almost at the full. The team horse goes astray.16 mins

Part Three: The wind blows over the lake and stirs the surface of the water. Thus visible effects of the invisible show themselves. 28 mins

Medium - 16mm film transferred to HD file

Duration overall - 1 hour 7 minutes

Brought together as one complete work, the trilogy of films made between 2018-2022 across different time scales and locations in Eastern and Northern Europe, is a playful exploration of non-nuclear family and community structures, the theoretical effects of non-linear time travel on human relationships, and how this could aid or problematise communication. the narrative is based on a story about a group of people temporarily living together in order to develop a crew mentality, so that they can be used to test a new form of space travel that uses non-linear time. Throughout, the light humour and fraternal mood of the group are disrupted by unsettling and unexpected events. The final film of the series was shot at the National Gallery and in Orkney while Rosalind Nashashibi was Artist in Residence.

The cast includes the artist, her two children an da small group of friends and collaborators. Shot over four years, the younger participants grow and change before our eyes, and the sense of purpose of the film is shaped by the changes in the inner and outer worlds of participants. The iconic sites of the National Gallery and Neolithic locations of Orkney extend the span of history and create a dream like setting against which the cast reflect on their journey.

The sense of sharp observation in Nashashibi’s work shares a kinship with the work the Orcadian artist, filmmaker and poet Margaret Tait. The Pier Arts Centre collection contains several films by Tait and this connection between the two artists’ work will be an important point of reference for curatorial development as well as a new foundation for the acquisitions of other artists’ films in the future. 

In 2019 the Contemporary Art Society established an innovative new partnership with the National Gallery in London, as part of the new Modern & Contemporary Programme there. While it is the Tate’s remit to acquire art post 1920, the National Gallery has a tradition of working with living artists. Modern & Contemporary Projects are essential to critically reflect on the gallery’s own collection, its history and on the institution itself. 

The “National Gallery Artist in Residence” was devised as a 12-month project in collaboration with a non-London member museum of the Contemporary Art Society. The Artist in Residence is appointed by a Jury including a representative from the partner museum. The artist enjoys access to the on-site artist studio at the gallery and they receive a London-Living Stipend.  The artist is also offered a stipend to cover childcare. At the end of the residency, there is a display of work within the permanent collection, as well as a publication documenting the artist’s practice and the residency. With the generous support of trustee Anna Yang and her husband Joe Schull, the Contemporary Art Society then acquires a work from the residency for the permanent collection at the partner museum.

In its first year, the Pier Arts Centre in Orkney was chosen as the partner museum, and painter and film maker Rosalind Nashashibi was selected as the first artist in residence.  The residency was planned to begin in July 2020, but plans had to be adapted to the ever-changing circumstances.  Rosalind Nashashibi nevertheless benefited from regular contact with curatorial and conservation staff at the gallery through 2021, as the lockdowns allowed, and presented a display of new paintings in the Spanish galleries in October 2021.  Through the summer of 2021 Nashashibi filmed at the National Gallery as well as in Orkney.  The resulting work is the last part of a trilogy of films, a meditation on non-nuclear family and community structures, the theoretical effects of non-linear time travel on human relationships, and how this could aid or problematise communication.

Rosalind Nashashibi was born in Croydon in 1973 and lives and works in London. Recent solo shows include: National Gallery artist-in-residence; Vienna Secession and The Art Institute, Chicago. Recent group shows include: Documenta 14; Memory Game, Villa Lontana, Rome; Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London and Edinburgh Art Festival, new commission, Edinburgh. Nashashibi was nominated for the Turner Prize 2017, won becks’ futures 2003 and was artist-in-residence at the National Gallery, London 2020.

Parts One and Two:

Commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival with Vienna Secession, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville, and National Galleries.

Supported by the PLACE Programme, a partnership between Edinburgh Festivals, Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council. With additional support from the Department of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London.

Part Three:

Commissioned by the National Gallery, London as part of the 2020 National Gallery Artist-in-Residence programme.

Presented to the Pier Arts Centre by the Contemporary Art Society through a partnership with the National Gallery, London Artist-in-Residence scheme, with the support of Anna Yang and Joe Schull; partial gift of the artist.