Tell/Tale is a video work by Jananne Al-Ani (b. 1966, Kirkuk, Iraq), an artist, researcher, and lecturer whose interdisciplinary practice explores themes of memory, identity, loss, and the politics of representation. The work was commissioned as part of Identinet, a Film and Video Umbrella initiative that included four new artist commissions, a dedicated online presence, and short film profiles broadcast on Channel 4.
In Tell/Tale, Al-Ani examines familial identity as a fluid, interdependent construct. Using intimate imagery and voice, the piece subtly probes how personal narratives intersect with broader historical currents, particularly in contexts marked by displacement, cultural heritage, and fragmented memory. In her characteristic style, Al-Ani blends autobiographical detail with wider sociopolitical resonances, inviting viewers to consider the silence and storytelling embedded within the fabric of family life.
Al-Ani’s earlier work interrogated Orientalist visual culture, particularly the fetishised portrayal of the veiled body in 19th-century Western painting and photography. Her transition into moving image in the late 1990s saw a shift toward multi-screen installations that centre around the power of voice, absence, and testimony—often featuring members of her own family.
Her ongoing research project, The Aesthetics of Disappearance; A Land Without People, extends her inquiry into contested landscapes and the erasure of bodies from historical and visual narratives. It critically examines how aerial surveillance, photography, and military technologies have influenced not only modern warfare, but also archaeology and art. Originally focused on the Middle East, the project has expanded to include the desert landscapes of the American Southwest and decommissioned military-industrial sites in the UK—spaces still marked by invisible or ghostly presences.
Al-Ani has exhibited extensively both in the UK and internationally, with solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Hayward Gallery Project Space (London), Beirut Art Center (Lebanon), Freer and Sackler Galleries (Washington DC), and Tate Britain (London). She has participated in major group exhibitions and biennials including the Venice Biennale, Sydney Biennale, Istanbul Biennial, Sharjah Biennial, and the Asia Pacific Triennial, among others.
Her work is held in major collections, including the Imperial War Museum, Centre Pompidou, Mori Art Museum, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is the recipient of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize and the East International Award, and her practice has been featured in numerous academic and curatorial publications including Aerial Aftermaths (Caren Kaplan, Duke University Press) and Documents of Contemporary Art: Moving Image (Omar Kholeif, Whitechapel/MIT Press).
Tell/Tale was commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella in collaboration with Arts Council England and Channel 4 Television, with additional support from the New Audiences Fund. The work was one of four digital commissions presented online alongside artist profiles produced by Maverick Television and broadcast on Channel 4’s The Slot in April 2002.
