Chasing Mirrors: Reflections on identity, art and culture

Chasing Mirrors was a 3-year participation project (2009 – 12) supported by the John Lyon’s Charity which connected contemporary artists with Arabic-speaking young people in the London boroughs of Brent, Barnet and Ealing to explore portraiture and notions of identity and representation.

Each year creative art workshops led to an exhibition of work created collaboratively between the artist and the young people at the Gallery. The artists were portrait photographer Faisal Abdu'Allah, textile artist Alinah Azadeh and abstract painter Athier Mousawi.

The young people came from three community youth organisations An-Nisa, Paiwand and Tallo. An-Nisa is a women-managed organisation established in 1985 to promote a positive British Muslim identity. Paiwand is an Afghan community organisation established to unite and improve the quality of life of the Afghan refugee community in the UK along with their partners Barnet Refugee Service and Barnet Youth and Connexions. Tallo is a community centre on the South Acton Estate that works with the local Somali community.

Explore each year of the project, watch the project films and discover resources exploring Arabic culture and art.

Supported by

John Lyon's Charity logo
Pink and yellow Arabic writing and Chasing Mirrors in yellow