The Tent and For Oluwale Exhibition Launch at The Tetley

The Tetley warmly invites you to the exhibition launch of Kannan Arunasalam: The Tent and Rasheed Araeen: For Oluwale.

Join us for a night of speeches, complimentary drinks and the first official viewing of the exhibitions. 6–8pm, FREE, all welcome!

Kannan Arunasalam
In his first solo exhibition in a UK gallery, Kannan Arunasalam will present a new film installation, alongside a selection of his existing short films, reflecting on identity and the meaning of loss against the lasting impact of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 1983 – 2009.

During the conflict, tens of thousands of people disappeared, including several hundred individuals who surrendered to the military at the end of the war. They were taken away in buses and have not been seen or heard from since. When a new government came into power in 2015 it promised to find answers to what happened to these missing people. However, no information has yet been released and the relatives of those who disappeared are still waiting. Find out more here.

Rasheed Araeen
Rasheed Araeen will present his work For Oluwale II for the first time in Leeds, marking the 50th anniversary of the death of David Oluwale.

The work responds to the death of David Oluwale, a British-Nigerian who drowned in the River Aire in 18th April 1969 after being systematically harassed by members of the Leeds City Police force. Araeen was shocked and deeply moved after reading about Oluwale’s death in 1971, and decided to make a work dedicated to his story, marking a politicized shift in Araeen’s practice who was previously making predominantly abstract artworks. Find out more here.