Exile is a Hard Job, Nil Yalter (1974-Now) (EMPIRE LINES x Ab-Anbar Gallery)

Artist Nil Yalter, a pioneer in 20th century video and multimedia installations, explores the often challenging experience of being an immigrant in a foreign country, through her transnational wallpapers, posters, and photographs of Turkish workers, in Exile is a Hard Job.

Born in Egypt in 1938, Nil Yalter moved from Istanbul to Paris in 1965. Since the 1970s, she has pioneered the practice of socially-engaged video art; working at the intersections of feminist, anti-racism, and labour movements, her media is always decided by the political issue at hand. But her contemporary practice has always been historically-informed, drawing on literatures and languages from the Ottoman Empire.

Pasted up in global cities from Valencia to Mumbai, ‘Exile Is a Hard Job’ includes defaced photographs exposing the living conditions of illiterate ‘guest workers’. Navigating between private, intimate spaces, and public displays, the artist also considers the ethics of photography, using her practice to reflect the loss of identity felt in these communities. She talks about its latest installation at Ab-Anbar Gallery in London, the parallels between her ‘illegal’ practices and subjects, and why women are often ‘doubly punished’. Plus, Yalter describes her motivations for migration from Turkey to France - ‘to learn’ - why MENA artists produce the most exciting work today, and how she feels about her status as the ‘grandmother’ of viral, video art.

Nil Yalter: Exile is a Hard Job ran at the Ab-Anbar Gallery in London throughout June 2023. The artist will return for the gallery’s full reopening in the autumn. This episode was recorded at London Gallery Weekend 2023.

For more about Nalini Malani, hear the artist and curator on My Reality is Different (2022).

Part of EMPIRE LINES Photography Season, exposing different perspectives on the past. Listen to the other episodes on Carrie Mae Weems, Contemporary African Photography at Tate Modern, plus Gregor Sailer’s series, The Polar Silk Road.

WITH: Nil Yalter, Turkish-French contemporary artist who currently lives and works in Paris. Her works feature in many notable public collections including the Tate Modern, London; the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; and Museum Ludwig, Cologne.

ART: ‘Exile is a Hard Job, Nil Yalter (1974-Now)’.

PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic.

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