Alia Syed
Alia Syed was born in Swansea, and works between London and Glasgow. For over 40 years, she has made experimental films that disrupt traditional narrative structures to create complex explorations of migration and colonialism, identity and place. Her work navigates geography, memory, and the fragmented nature of diasporic identity. Syed’s films have been shown at numerous institutions around the world including, BBC Arts Online (currently), Tigers an Dragons: India and Wales in Britain, Glynn Vivian, Swansea (2025); CCA Glasgow (2025); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2023); Courtisane Festival, Belgium (2019); WKV, Stuttgart (2019); Yale Centre for British Art (2019); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2012-13), 5th Moscow Biennale (2013); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010); Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2009); XV Sydney Biennale (2006); Hayward Gallery, London (2005); Tate Britain, London (2003); Glasgow Museum of Modern Art, Scotland (2002); Iniva, London (2002); The New Art Gallery in Walsall (2002); and Tate Modern, London (2000). Syed’s films have also been the subject of several solo exhibitions at Talwar Gallery in New York and New Delhi. She was nominated for the Film London Jarman Award in 2015 and the Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists in 2020.
Portrait of Alia Syed. Photo by Michiel Devijver
Video: The Dhaba - 1st Chapter: Mr Sharif and 2nd Chapter: Mr Bhari (2025), excerpt
Alia Syed, The Dhaba - 1st Chapter: Mr Sharif and 2nd Chapter: Mr Bhari (2025), film still
Alia Syed, The Dhaba - 1st Chapter: Mr Sharif and 2nd Chapter: Mr Bhari (2025), film still
Video: Ka Ba Ddi: a breath, a move, a game (2025), excerpt
Alia Syed, Ka Ba Ddi: a breath, a move, a game (2025) installation view at CCA Glasgow. Photo by Diana Dumi
Alia Syed, Ka Ba Ddi: a breath, a move, a game (2025), film still
Alia Syed, Ka Ba Ddi: a breath, a move, a game (2025), film still
Video: Snow (2019), excerpt
Alia Syed, Snow (2019), video still
