Rehana Zaman

12 Feb 2018

Rehana Zaman

Over the course of 2018 Rehana Zaman will work closely with women from Hibiscus Initiatives, to examine the intersections of race, gender and class with the criminal justice system. Together they will engage with processes of racialisation bound by law, where UK jurisprudence is both constituted by and acts to entrench structures of racial domination.

Hibiscus Initiatives, established in 1986 (and previously known as FPWP Hibiscus) is a voluntary sector organisation with a track record of delivering high quality services over nearly 30 years. Hibiscus have developed a widely acknowledged specialist expertise in working with Foreign National (FN) and Black, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BMER) offenders and detainees in custody, detention and the community. Their person-centred approach is a model that engages and works with clients to support and empower them in dealing with what are often multiple and complex needs and, importantly, addresses the additional disadvantage that language and cultural barriers present. Their specialist expertise and experience in reintegration and resettlement, and supporting migrant offenders and those at risk of offending, posits Hibiscus Initiatives as one of the leading organisations supporting foreign nationals involved in the criminal justice system in the UK.

Artist

Rehana Zaman

Rehana Zaman is a London-based artist whose practice is concerned with the effect of multiple social dynamics on how individuals and groups relate. These narrative-based pieces, often deadpan and neurotic, are frequently generated through conversation and collaboration with others. Her working process varies with each project, from conventional production methods with a crew and actors, to 3-D animation, to collaboration with researchers, activist groups, members of the public and her family, or a combination of many of these processes at once.

A driving question within Zaman’s work is how social political concerns, in addition to providing content, can structure how an artwork is produced. To this extent she has sought to apply methods influenced by radical pedagogy, as in the writings of Paulo Freire, and psychosocial dynamics rooted in Black feminist thought. Zaman is a member of the Women of Colour Index Reading group and is frequently invited to devise and deliver workshops, talks and events for groups and organisations.

Zaman’s solo exhibitions include Studio Voltaire, London; Material Art Fair IV, Mexico City and The Tetley, Leeds. Her work was also part of group exhibitions in Eastside Projects, Birmingham; Whitechapel, London; Serpentine Galleries, London and Syndicate, Cologne among others.