Lena Mohamed

While completing my undergraduate degree in art history, my research focused on Orientalism and empire as represented in nineteenth-century European paintings. Since then my interests have moved onto contemporary artistic practices that reference and subvert issues of postcolonialism and global power structures.


Working at Tate Britain as a Curatorial Assistant has enabled me to develop these interests, particularly through my involvement with the exhibition Migrations: Journeys into British Art (2012). The exhibition primarily comprises Tate works and has aimed to rethink traditional notions of ‘British’ art. As a result I have gained an insight into how the collection has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the narration of British art history.


My dissertation examines artistic production during the last decade of the Sri Lankan civil war and how its privileged position in society (by generally remaining under the radar of the state) has allowed for significant interjections to essentialist ethno-nationalist narratives.


I hope to continue researching along these lines of enquiry, while also exploring ways in which such ideas can be translated into a curated space.


Host organisation: Tate Britain, London