This Quality

2010
Nashashibi, Rosalind
This Quality is a film shot in downtown Cairo. It comprises two halves: the first shows a 30-something woman looking directly at the camera, and sometimes acknowledging the existence of others around her who we cannot see. She has a beautiful face with eyes which seem to see internally rather than outwardly, they almost have the appearance of being painted on, suggesting the blindness of a mythological seer. The second half shows a series of parked cars covered with fabric. Each car suggests a sightless face, as the fabric stretched around the machine turns it into a face but also seems to hood the car so that it is conspicuously hidden, like a child covering his eyes. Test courtesy of Murray Guy, New York
  • Artwork Details: running time: 4 minutes 33seconds
  • Edition: 1 of 3 + 2 APs
  • Material description: 16mm colour film with sound
  • Credit line: Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist.
  • Theme:
  • Medium: Film and Audio Visual
  • Accession number: ACC33/2014

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The Arts Council Collection is the UK's most widely seen collection of modern and contemporary art.

With more than 8,000 works by over 2,000 artists, it can be seen in exhibitions and public displays across the country and beyond. This website offers unprecedented access to the Collection, and information about each work can be found on this site.