That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore - an exhibition and series of events by artist-in-residence Rand Hamdallah
Design by Rand Hamdallah
That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore is a three-day exhibition and series of events by Bosla Arts’ artist-in-residence - Palestinian artist Rand Hamdallah, presented in collaboration with online artist-in-residence Shahd Itbakhi, exploring the themes of progress and development in a collapsing world.
Through zines, live performances, workshops, and shared food, the exhibition asks: Are They Lying to Us? Of course they are.
This project emerges from Rand’s ongoing research on urban resilience, digital resistance, and the politics of knowledge production, connecting her recent thesis Traces of Urban Resilience: Exploring Everyday Practices of Reconstruction in the Occupied West Bank with a satirical yet deeply political zine collection.
The exhibition unfolds through fragments; posters, spoken word, sound, cooking, and conversation -blending humour and grief as acts of collective healing.
Register for the programme:
Opening night & Live Performance: From Hebron to London
Friday 5 December, 6:30-9pm
A live collaborative performance by Rand Hamdallah and Shahd Itbakhih. Shahd performs from Hebron, a city she cannot leave due to a travel ban. Rand responds from London, becoming her physical agent.
Join us for the opening night. Drinks and refreshments provided.
Already Resilient: That’s enough reading - workshop & community canvas
Saturday 6 December, 11:30am - 14:30pm
Join artist-in-residence Rand Hamdallah on Saturday for a group workshop inspired by her thesis Traces of Urban Resilience: Exploring Everyday Practices of Reconstruction in the Occupied West Bank through Actor–Network Theory. The workshop will examine ways to extract and articulate tacit knowledge using qualitative research methods.
The session invites collective brainstorming on new alternative modes of communication, publishing, information sharing tools and artistic resistance.
Alongside the workshop, Layla Assam will hold a Community Canvas: an open participatory wall where visitors can draw, write, or imagine together what collective liberation might look like.
A collective lunch will be provided afterwards.
Open Mic Night: In Solidarity with Palestine
Saturday 6 December, 6-9pm
Within the exhibition That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore, let’s gather and join our voices. This open mic night invites you to reinterpret words, sounds, and thoughts as an elegy for global numbness — in an age of permanent crisis.
Bring a song to recite, a poem, a piece of spoken word, a song lyric, or anything you feel like sharing. If you simply want to listen that’s fine too.
Birds of Gaza lino print workshop
Sunday 7 December, 10:30am - 1pm
Join us for the Birds of Gaza Lino Printing Workshop led by artist Zafeerah Heesambee to honour the Palestinian sunbird - a symbol of hope and freedom - through art.
Together, we’ll craft lino prints in memory of every child lost in Gaza towards a collective piece. Open to all levels.
Bosla Arts’ art residency programme is generously supported by the Reva and David Logan Foundation.