Artist Talk: Laisul Hoque in Conversation with Zarina Muhammad
Wednesday 26th February 2025 , 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Join us for an artist talk by Laisul Hoque in conversation with art critic Zarina Muhammad, co-founder of The White Pube, expanding on his East London Art Prize shortlisted installation, ‘An Ode to All the Flavours’ (2024). The conversation will explore how personal memories and shared experiences challenge rigid cultural norms and reshape collective identities.
The conversation will delve into themes of cultural fluidity, memory and tradition, focusing on how Laisul’s father’s favourite unconventional childhood snack inspired this installation. Reflecting on his upbringing shaped by dogmatic approaches to norms and traditions, Laisul critiques the ‘sacredness’ often associated with maintaining culture, presenting it instead as playful, dynamic, and shaped by reinterpretation and participation.
Through the installation, Laisul invites visitors to taste the snack offered by OITIJ-JO Kitchen, embedding a personal memory into collective experiences, and challenging how we understand and participate in culture. This event aims to offer insights into arts’ potential to transform private narratives into collective experiences and questions the boundaries of tradition and identity.
Please note, this talk will begin at 7pm in the Nunnery Gallery.
The Nunnery Café will be open for the duration of the event, selling drinks and a range of tasty snacks and refreshments offered by OITIJ-JO Kitchen.
Concession rate applies to students, over 65s, under 18s, Bow Arts artists, National Art Pass members, and key workers.
More about Laisul Hoque
Laisul Hoque was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he studied BA English Literature at North South University before completing an MA in Contemporary Photography, Practices and Philosophies at Central Saint Martins, UAL, London. Hoque was a finalist for the 2024 CIRCA Prize. Selected exhibitions / screenings include An Ode to All the Flavours, a day-long Exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2024); The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Group Screening in the International Program, EXPERIMENTA, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore (2024); The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, screened at Piccadilly Lights screen, London, Limes Kurfürstendamm screen, Berlin, Essilor Luxottica screen in Cadorna Square, Milan, as part of CIRCA Prize 2024; An Ode to All the Flavours, Solo Exhibition, Kobi Nazrul Centre, London (2024); The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Solo Screening, Studio 6/6, Dhaka (2024); Shorts: Joyful Lands, Joyful Bodies, Chronic Youth Film Festival, Group Screening, Barbican Centre, London (2024); I Don’t Call Enough but I’m Here Now, Solo Exhibition, Oitij-jo, London (2024).
More about Zarina Muhammad
ZARINA MUHAMMAD is an art critic from and based in London. She runs the White Pube (with her collaborator, Gabrielle de la Puente) where they publish reviews and essays about art, exhibitions and culture at large. You can find them at thewhitepube.com or on instagram at @thewhitepube. Their debut novel, Poor Artists, is out now.
More about OITIJ-JO Kitchen
OITIJ-JO Kitchen is a women-led project of the OITIJ-JO Collective, an arts and training charity dedicated to promoting awareness of Bengali culture. It is based in Rich Mix.
OITIJ-JO Kitchen aims to bring traditional and creative Bangladeshi cuisine to the public and to disrupt the gender norms of hospitality and catering sector by providing training and employment opportunities to people who are generally underrepresented in kitchen and front of house roles.
OITIJ-JO Kitchen’s speciality is delicious, slow-cooked, home-style Bangladeshi food that gives time to health and wellbeing. The kitchen loves to serve a wide range of customers of all ages and from all walks of life, especially people who might not have tried home cooked Bangladeshi food before. The project started out of grassroots action in Tower Hamlets and has a strong belief supporting home-grown talent and celebrating the local borough and the diverse community of London.
Access information
The Nunnery Gallery and Café have step-free access throughout from street level, including to the accessible toilet, and is service animal friendly. This venue does not have a hearing loop system. Accessible parking is not available on-site.
If you have any questions regarding accessibility at this venue or event, would like to make us aware of any access requirements that you have in advance of visiting, or would like this information in an alternate format including Easy Read, please email nunnery@bowarts.com or call 020 8980 7774 (Ext. 3)
Access requirements could include things like providing equipment, services or support (e.g. information in Easy Read, speech to text software, additional 1:1 support), adjusting workshop timings (e.g. more break times), adjustments to the event space (e.g. making sure you have a table near the entrance) or anything else you can think of!
Transport Information
Nearest station(s): Bow Road (District and Hammersmith and City lines) is a 6-minute walk away, and Bow Church (DLR) is a 3-minute walk away. Bus: 205, 25, 425, A8, D8, 108, 276, 488 and 8 all service the surrounding area. Bike: Bicycle parking is located at Bow Church Station. The nearest Santander Cycles docking station is at Bow Church Station.
Address: Nunnery Gallery, 181 Bow Road, London, E3 2SJ
Opening hours: Tues-Sun, 10am to 4pm
Read more about the East London Art Prize
East London Art Prize
The East London Art Prize celebrates and promotes the incredible talent and diversity of art made in the cultural hive of east London.
