Brutus Lab
Brutus Lab is an artist-run space where young talents can live, work and exhibit. Part of Brutus Space, located in architect Jan van Teeffelen's former villa at Keileweg 14, Rotterdam, the workspace accommodates up to four or five artists, for a period of 6 to 12 months in a vibrant and exciting incubator for creative freedom. With a mission to offer artists time, space and freedom to experiment at a massive scale, Brutus Lab provided chances for artists to produce without restrictions, and bodies of works that are still relevant today were created.
In collaboration with Nouveau Grand Tour and Ron Mandos Young Blood Foundation.
Current users: Michał Kucharski (PL,1997), Tijn Gerards (NL), Matias Salgado (AR,1998), Alexandra Philips (US, 1988) and Marcos Kueh (ID, 1995)
Past users: Jemima de Jonge (NL, 2001), Ouassila Arras (FR, 1993), Yuxuan Cui (CH, 1994), Jason Page – 2016/2017, Shimon Kamada - 2021, Wessel Verrijt – 2020, Jasper Griepink - 2020, Kasey Short – 2017/2018, Riley Harmon - 2018, Joseph Thabang Palframan – 2021/2022, Carlijn Kingma - 2017 and Neo Matloga
In collaboration with Nouveau Grand Tour and Ron Mandos Young Blood Foundation.
Current users: Michał Kucharski (PL,1997), Tijn Gerards (NL), Matias Salgado (AR,1998), Alexandra Philips (US, 1988) and Marcos Kueh (ID, 1995)
Past users: Jemima de Jonge (NL, 2001), Ouassila Arras (FR, 1993), Yuxuan Cui (CH, 1994), Jason Page – 2016/2017, Shimon Kamada - 2021, Wessel Verrijt – 2020, Jasper Griepink - 2020, Kasey Short – 2017/2018, Riley Harmon - 2018, Joseph Thabang Palframan – 2021/2022, Carlijn Kingma - 2017 and Neo Matloga
Apr — Aug 2024 | Ouassila Arras
Day'man 3la Balak, which translates to "Always in Your Mind”, is the title of Ouassila Arras’ project, developed during her residency period at Brutus Lab, from April until August 2024.
The residency represented an opportunity to further expand Ouassila’s research on displacement, a concept strongly present and continuously challenged in her work.The artist uses simple, mundane materials to reflect on history and community, and through repetitive gestures she creates highly lyrical yet accessible installations.
Ouassila’s work delves into the complex layers of the Franco-Algerian history intertwined with her own family history, a narrative often fragmented by exile, war, silence, and societal taboos. Constantly travelling between Algeria, Marseille, Chicago, Beirut, and Berlin—a process she describes as “deterritorialization”—the artist navigates the past and the present with a fluid sense of place. This represents a way to collect archives and testimonies and to reshape the mainstream understanding of history, rediscovering voices long ignored or silenced.
Transcending geographical and cultural boundaries, Ouasilla’s work has the power to engage the viewer into the intricate threads of history, identity, and memory. This becomes possible thanks to the material and process she chose for the project: thick and colourful faux velvet blankets, objects she grew up with and saw in every family and friends’ house, so familiar that it’s almost unnoticeable, like certain aspects of history that are overlooked or forgotten. Warm, affordable and available in every middle eastern bazaar, these blankets represent comfort and protection, but also vulnerability, aspects the artist challenges through the act of shaving.
This gesture, conducted in a repetitive, almost meditative way, using an electric razor, allows her to delve into the spaces between the fibres, practically and metaphorically: it’s a process of uncovering the unspoken truths and revealing the hidden narratives woven within. The shaved material is light and feathery, a volatile vessel of the process that will find its final meaning in a short movie shot in the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, symbolic place that represents the core of all Ouasillas’ travels and works.
“Immersing myself in a new environment allowed me to engage with different cultural perspectives, which expanded my understanding of the themes I explore. The focused time and space provided by the residency enabled me to experiment with new techniques and materials, pushing the boundaries of my practice.” Hosting her creative process has been an inspiring experience for Brutus and we wish Ouassila all the best for her artistic journey.
The residency represented an opportunity to further expand Ouassila’s research on displacement, a concept strongly present and continuously challenged in her work.The artist uses simple, mundane materials to reflect on history and community, and through repetitive gestures she creates highly lyrical yet accessible installations.
Ouassila’s work delves into the complex layers of the Franco-Algerian history intertwined with her own family history, a narrative often fragmented by exile, war, silence, and societal taboos. Constantly travelling between Algeria, Marseille, Chicago, Beirut, and Berlin—a process she describes as “deterritorialization”—the artist navigates the past and the present with a fluid sense of place. This represents a way to collect archives and testimonies and to reshape the mainstream understanding of history, rediscovering voices long ignored or silenced.
Transcending geographical and cultural boundaries, Ouasilla’s work has the power to engage the viewer into the intricate threads of history, identity, and memory. This becomes possible thanks to the material and process she chose for the project: thick and colourful faux velvet blankets, objects she grew up with and saw in every family and friends’ house, so familiar that it’s almost unnoticeable, like certain aspects of history that are overlooked or forgotten. Warm, affordable and available in every middle eastern bazaar, these blankets represent comfort and protection, but also vulnerability, aspects the artist challenges through the act of shaving.
This gesture, conducted in a repetitive, almost meditative way, using an electric razor, allows her to delve into the spaces between the fibres, practically and metaphorically: it’s a process of uncovering the unspoken truths and revealing the hidden narratives woven within. The shaved material is light and feathery, a volatile vessel of the process that will find its final meaning in a short movie shot in the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, symbolic place that represents the core of all Ouasillas’ travels and works.
“Immersing myself in a new environment allowed me to engage with different cultural perspectives, which expanded my understanding of the themes I explore. The focused time and space provided by the residency enabled me to experiment with new techniques and materials, pushing the boundaries of my practice.” Hosting her creative process has been an inspiring experience for Brutus and we wish Ouassila all the best for her artistic journey.
