A new solo exhibition by artist Rehana Zaman tours to Chapter in 2027

Comprising a new film in two parts and a sculptural installation, the exhibition takes up questions of land use (extraction), land ownership (property and seizure) and environmental collapse (drought and flood) through the figure of the agricultural worker.

The film unfolds across two geographical locations; Angus on the east coast of Scotland and Punjab, Pakistan. Within these two distinct but related sites we follow workers who pick, prepare, pack and deliver cash crops; migrant seasonal workers, sharecroppers, tenants and day labourers. The brute choreography of monocrop industrial farming plays alongside fragments of candid conversation and rebellious gatherings to examine how seasonal work and labour relations - often transient and precarious, class and caste-determined - are shaped by the enduring legacies of colonialism and the cumulative drives of capitalism.

Reflection and refraction become formal devices throughout the film, with high-definition observational footage segueing to 16mm, high contrast and expired film. Slippages of time and space are amplified through an atmospheric soundscape and CGI sequences inspired by medieval Islamic cosmography that travel across both parts of the film. The multi-channel installation will be set within a sculptural environment that echoes both bodily forms and agricultural architectures. These structures choreograph the space, transforming the gallery into an immersive landscape of light and sound beyond the screen to address how relationships to land are subverted and felt.

Following its premiere at Site Gallery (Sheffield) from 20 February - 24 May 2026, the commission will tour to Glasgow International 5-21 June 2026, Whitechapel Gallery (London) 15 July - 13 September 2026, Project Arts Centre (Dublin) 23 October - 24 December 2026, and Chapter (Cardiff) January - April 2027.

Co-commissioned by Site Gallery, Glasgow International, Project Arts Centre and Chapter in partnership with Whitechapel Gallery. Produced by Site Gallery. Research and development supported by Hospitalfield.

Rehana Zaman

Rehana Zaman is an artist living and working in London. Her work speaks to notions of kinship and sociality, seeking out possibilities of intimacy and transgression within hostile contexts. Conversation and cooperative methods sit at the heart of her films which extend into texts, performances and group work. She stands in support of Palestinian and Sudanese struggles for liberation and against genocide, apartheid and colonialism.

She has exhibited widely in the UK and Internationally. Recent presentations include Serpentine Civic, BFI London Film Festival, Tromsø Kunstforening, BEK - Bergen Centre for Electronic Arts, British Art Show 9 (Touring), ICA Miami, Trinity Square Video, Toronto, Borås International Sculpture Biennial and Artist Film International Whitechapel (Intnl Touring). In 2019 she co-edited Tongues with Taylor Le Melle. In 2023 she was the winner of the Film London Jarman Award. She is a member of not/nowhere artist workers cooperative and her films are distributed by LUX.

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Co-commissioned by Site Gallery, Glasgow International, Project Arts Centre and Chapter in partnership with Whitechapel Gallery. Produced by Site Gallery. Research and development supported by Hospitalfield.

Rehana Zaman’s commission and exhibition has been made possible with support from Arts Council England, Henry Moore Foundation, the Joanna Drew Travel Bursary and Goldsmiths University of London Strategic Research Fund.