Ali Cherri: How I Am Monument

Ali Cherri works across film, sculpture, installation, drawing and performance. His practice is inspired both by archaeological artefacts and the natural world, exploring the temporal shifts between ancient civilisations and contemporary societies. Using artefacts as a starting point, he considers the links between archaeology, historical narrative and heritage, reflecting on the processes of excavation and the relocation and preservation of cultural objects in museums. His work addresses colonial histories, cultural loss, nationhood and different geographies of violence in his native Lebanon but also in the broader region, interrogating the ways in which political violence is witnessed, and disseminates into people’s bodies, and how it scars the physical and cultural landscape. 

How I Am Monument will be the first major UK institutional presentation of Cherri’s work. The exhibition has been developed in partnership with Vienna Secession where it will open 6 December 2024 – 23 February 2025. A second, extended chapter will be presented in Baltic’s expansive Level 4 gallery from 12 April – 12 October 2025. Secession and Baltic have co-commissioned a new body of work for the exhibition.