Liverpool Biennial 2012 The Cunnard: Nadia Kaabi-Linke

The first stop of the Biennial is the Cunnard Building, one of the three graces of Liverpool. It holds a lot of the work by many artist especially Mona Hatoum. The piece that strikes me in this building the most is Nadia Kaabi-Linke's film art which takes a new spin on film art. Where normally the spectator looks at the video screen or screens, in this piece that is not possible as the video screens are opposite each other and are communicating. This means the spectator must stand at the side and watch or stand in front of one screen and not see the other. On one screen there is a filled church with people from different ethnic backgrounds and the other screen is a pair of lips. The lips will ask a question and the people on the other screen will answer the question. The questions asked by these lips are the questions which would be asked when applying for a visa to enter the UK. This is playing very well with the theme of hospitality. The voice of the lips is very monotone and done in one breath which is quite effective as it shows the long dull process of trying to enter the UK. The reason for the different backgrounds on the large screen is due to the different minorities the UK has and also this piece shows a lot of the time the UK will presume guilty without a fair hearing. This shows the UK as not being as hospitable as it should. The piece is called NO, 2012. I could not get a photo of the lips as the lips are projected from behind so my camera could not pick them up as it is too bright.