Zineb

Sedira:

Dreams

Have

No

Titles

Review

–

Magic

Moments

in

the

Bar

That

Can

Take

You

Anywhere

Zineb Sedira’s ‘Dreams Have No Titles’ at Whitechapel Gallery blurs the boundaries between reality and fiction as it invites viewers into an immersive world that plays with memory, film and personal history. The exhibition begins with a re-enactment of a scene from Ettore Scola’s Le Bal (1983), transporting viewers into a bar where time feels suspended. As the scene unfolds, it becomes clear that the set itself is a work of art, complete with hidden film equipment and surreal objects scattered about. Sedira’s installation takes us on a journey through multiple layers of storytelling, where narratives shift between her life, cinema and political history.

In a film shown in a small cinema, Sedira reflects on her journey from Algeria to France and then to England, confronting her diverse identities as an Algerian, French, Arab, Muslim, and Berber. The film weaves in footage from films like The Battle of Algiers (1966) and F for Fake (1973), exploring themes of artifice and truth. Through the medium of cinema, Sedira unpacks her complex relationship with her past, from the trauma of her sister’s suicide to her reflections on music, racism and humiliation.