DELIGHTFULLY OVERWHELMING

Alia Farid’s latest large-scale installation, “Talismans (Kupol LR 3303),” was created primarily with a material called Kupol LR 3303 which is a resin manufactured by the United Oil Projects (UOP). Farid collaborated with UOP in Kuwait to fabricate the material. The exhibition, curated by Meg Rotzel, the curator of exhibitions at Harvard Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, is on view through June 21 in the Harvard Radcliffe Institute’s Johnson-Kulukundis Family Gallery, located in Byerly Hall.

Farid returns to Radcliffe after a year-long residency in 2023-2024 where she worked on “Amulets,” now on view in a large-scale outdoor exhibition at Stanford University. “Talismans (Kupol LR 3303)” is also presented in conjunction with additional work from Farid’s series in the United Arab Emirates’ Sharjah Biennial 16.

“Talismans” features photographs selected from Farid’s maternal archive. The copied photographs are carefully culled, collaged and embedded within panels of Kupol LR 3303 and fiberglass. Egyptian faience, a blue ancient ceramic material, settles deep into the installation’s resin. The outside is thin but sturdy; it is precisely cut, resembling a paper and cloth-screen pinned with stainless-steel fastenings.