Sophia Al-Maria and Lydia Ourahmane: Grey Unpleasant Land at Spike Island, Bristol

Nov 15, 2024

By Rebecca Bury

Sophia Al-Maria and Lydia Ourahmane: Grey Unpleasant Land at Spike Island, Bristol

The exhibition Grey Unpleasant Land at Spike Island, Bristol, marks a compelling collaboration between artists Sophia Al-Maria and Lydia Ourahmane, who, for the first time, explore England’s cultural identity through a lens that is both incisive and multifaceted. Their work collectively examines England’s historical narratives and social structures, inviting audiences to question deeply ingrained ideas about ownership, inheritance, and belonging. With both artists being immigrants to the UK, their perspective challenges conventional notions of “home” and national identity, presenting England not as a land of harmony but as one of complex dualities and contradictions.

Artists in Dialogue: Sophia Al-Maria and Lydia Ourahmane

Sophia Al-Maria, raised between Qatar and the US, and Lydia Ourahmane, originally from Algeria, bring unique backgrounds and artistic approaches to their collaboration. Both have spent years engaging critically with the UK, a society that frequently oscillates between welcoming diversity and safeguarding exclusivity. Al-Maria’s work often critiques narratives around Western hegemony and cultural ownership, while Ourahmane’s pieces frequently investigate displacement, borders, and the layering of personal and political histories. Their shared experience as immigrants adds a compelling dimension to Grey Unpleasant Land, as both artists view British culture from a dual insider-outsider perspective, sensitive to the nuances of social and economic division.

The Concept: Deconstructing English Myths and Legacies

At the heart of Grey Unpleasant Land is a challenge to the romanticised vision of England as a “green and pleasant land.” The title itself, a play on William Blake’s nationalist poem, signals a darker and more troubling reality beneath the pastoral image, touching on issues of land ownership, class privilege, and colonial legacies. The exhibition highlights England’s history of land monopolisation, questioning who truly owns the land and what legacy this ownership leaves behind. Al-Maria and Ourahmane delve into England’s socio-economic fabric, encouraging audiences to confront uncomfortable questions about inheritance, inequality, and identity in a nation built on feudal ideals that linger in modern forms.

Key Works and Themes: A Journey through Grey Unpleasant Land

One of the exhibition’s most striking installations, Job Lot (late 1700s–2024), consists of 240 porcelain chamber pots, meticulously arranged on the gallery floor. This work speaks to social stratification, contrasting the dignified history of these objects with their often unglamorous roles in service. Alongside Job Lot, Silver Service (1774–2024) juxtaposes Georgian silver, originally owned by the aristocratic Sir William Bellingham, with the humble chamber pots, highlighting the sharp divide between the objects of privilege and the tools of servitude. The contrast in acquisition stories—the pots sourced informally through Facebook and the silver painstakingly retrieved from a bank vault—adds another layer, underscoring the ease with which class distinctions persist even in the most mundane transactions.

Silver Service, Sophia Al-Maria and Lydia Ourahmane: Grey Unpleasant Land at Spike Island, Bristol. Taken by Lougher Contemporary

Curtains and the Moral Decay of England’s Elite

A particularly enigmatic work, Curtains (2024), features a set of red velvet drapes, sourced from a Belgravia house clearance. The curtains’ plush texture and faded grandeur evoke a sense of aristocratic decay, linking them to England’s ruling class and the history of wealth accumulation. Displayed without explicit context, the curtains encourage viewers to consider how seemingly mundane objects can embody power structures and class stratifications, and their history, if known, adds a layer of haunting irony to the piece.

Curtain, Sophia Al-Maria and Lydia Ourahmane: Grey Unpleasant Land at Spike Island, Bristol. Taken by Lougher Contemporary

Fly Tip: A Commentary on Waste and Dispossession

In Fly Tip (2024), the artists present a selection of discarded items found in illegal dumps around Bristol. Sealed in aluminium bags, the objects are preserved yet contained, a metaphor for dispossession and the undervalued nature of the communities who reside around these waste sites. The piece is a raw depiction of England’s waste management issues and socio-economic divides, with the found objects representing both the environmental neglect and social marginalisation often hidden in plain sight.

Fly Tip, Sophia Al-Maria and Lydia Ourahmane: Grey Unpleasant Land at Spike Island, Bristol. Taken by Lougher Contemporary

Terra Nullius and the Concept of “Nobody’s Land”

A particularly thought-provoking piece in the exhibition is Terra Nullius (2024), an advertisement placed in The Spectator, a conservative magazine. In this ad, the artists invite English landowners to relinquish symbolic parcels of their land. The phrase “terra nullius” refers to land belonging to no one—a term historically used to justify colonial expansion. By repurposing this concept in a contemporary UK setting, Al-Maria and Ourahmane point to the absurdity of the current land system, where ownership is essential yet often unjust. The piece raises legal and philosophical questions about land ownership, provoking audiences to consider the possibility—and implications—of land without an owner.

Challenging Narratives: An Open Invitation to Reflect on National Identity

Together, the works in Grey Unpleasant Land provide a powerful critique of England’s entrenched class divisions and the mythologies that sustain them. Al-Maria and Ourahmane delve into England’s “grey areas,” where stories of noble heritage clash with the harsh realities of land inequality and economic disparity. Through their exploration of historical artefacts and found objects, the artists question how collective identity is formed—and who gets to shape that narrative.
The exhibition challenges visitors to consider the construction of national identity and to reflect on the ways in which England’s past is continually rewritten to serve the present. The show leaves us with a stark message: England’s legacy is a complicated mosaic of privilege and dispossession, and it is only through confronting these complexities that the country might move toward a more inclusive and equitable vision of itself.

Grey Unpleasant Land at Spike Island is more than an art exhibition; it’s an incisive commentary on the cultural and social fabric of England today. Al-Maria and Ourahmane's work compels us to examine the symbols of power that continue to shape the nation. Through objects both grand and humble, they lay bare the contradictions and inequities within England’s heritage, transforming familiar items into mirrors reflecting a fractured society. This exhibition ultimately asks, not only who owns the land, but also who has the right to belong in this “grey and unpleasant land.”

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