October - December 2023
Xeem Noor

The residency has been an exercise of self-awareness and self-reflection, much to her surprise. Her initial idea was to gather data through interviews and observations of the people in Frankfurt. 

The residency has been an exercise of self-awareness and self-reflection, much to her surprise.

Her initial idea was to gather data through interviews and observations of the people in Frankfurt. She quickly discovered that the Germans prefer their private spaces. Even as she lived and worked in two buildings full of studios, it takes an occasion to meet other people.

Being a natural homebody, she quickly falls into a routine and habit of being alone too. To acclimatize to the residency, she resorted to making intuitive watercolour sketches. The bulbous shapes that flowed out of her subconscious were like new friends. They made her think of the queerness of orientating the self in a temporal time and space—a 3-month residency in a foreign land.

The works made throughout her residency became an exploration of her thought processes and her headspace at this temporal place. The installations were a response to the exhibition space in Frankfurt but once they come home to her, they will change and orientate to find new forms and meanings.