Aliya Syed

* Alia Syed, Fatima’s Letter (Film Still), 1994, 16 mm film transferred to DVD, Courtesy of the Artist and Talwar Gallery

Alia Syed was born in Swansea, and works between London and Glasgow. For over 40 years, she has made experimental films that disrupt traditional narrative structures to create complex explorations of migration and colonialism, identity and place.

Her work navigates geography, memory, and the fragmented nature of diasporic identity.

Syed’s films have been shown at numerous institutions around the world including, BBC Arts Online (currently), Tigers an Dragons: India and Wales in Britain (currently) Glynn Vivian; CCA Glasgow (2025); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2023); Courtisane Festival, Belgium (2019). She was nominated for the Film London Jarman Award in 2015 and the Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists in 2020.

The artist was in the following exhibition:
Jarman Awards 2026

Aliya Syed

* Alia Syed, Fatima’s Letter (Film Still), 1994, 16 mm film transferred to DVD, Courtesy of the Artist and Talwar Gallery

Alia Syed was born in Swansea, and works between London and Glasgow. For over 40 years, she has made experimental films that disrupt traditional narrative structures to create complex explorations of migration and colonialism, identity and place.

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