Delaine Le Bas

Delainia: 17071965 Unfolding

Painted fabric is hung from walls in an exhibition space. At the back is a large sculpture of a figure.

Fabric hanging from walls with colourful artwork painted onto it.

Drawings and artwork on fabric hanging from a wall. In front of the fabric is a sculpture of a figure on a straw bale.

Artwork is displayed on a fabric wall hanging.

A stuffed mattress is in front of artwork hanging on a wall of fabric. Surrounding the mattress are straw bales.

Artwork and sculptures are displayed under a fabric canopy. There is a seated sculpture and a rug in front.

A wheeled carriage made from thin wire, displayed in a room filled with artwork displayed on fabric wall hanging.

A room with white walls and white fabric hanging from the ceiling which are painted with brightly coloured shapes and body parts. At the centre of the room sits a person in a long pink dress with red hair. Their face is covered by a blue and white mask.

A photo of artist Delaine Le Bas as a two year old child. Pictured standing in front of a wooden backdrop, with a red stick in their right hand.

A white room with white fabric hanging from the ceiling. On the walls outlines of human figures are painted. In the centre of the room is a canvas on a frame held up by 6 legs resembling human legs.

Delainia: 17071965 Unfolding is an exhibition of work by artist Delaine Le Bas presented within an expansive and layered installation. Delaine’s objects, environments, textiles, costumes and performances exist at the intersection of the personal and the political, aligning their experiences as a Romani person with perspectives on land, movement, gender, and discrimination.

Across the exhibition, Delaine evokes forms of social and psychological commentary through the recurrent use of texts, the reactivation of personal and archival ephemera, and symbols from classical mythology and popular culture. The installations are populated by a cast of extraordinary figures such as goddesses, visionaries and witches, applying a feminist lens to narratives of both emancipation and domination.

Tramway was previously the Glasgow site of To Gypsyland, 2013, a travelling research project by Delaine and collaborator Barby Asante that explored Romani, Gypsy and Traveller presence in cities across the UK. In the intertwining of elements from past projects with new figures and narratives, Delainia reflects the ongoing address in the work of the mythologisation and demonisation of Romani, Gypsy and Traveller peoples in the UK and Europe. These concerns are amplified within present-day contexts of housing crisis, border control, forced displacement and environmental breakdown. Delaine’s work activates and reclaims space for new rituals and imaginaries of resistance against historical and contemporary environments of hostility.