Ali Tahayori: 69th Blake Prize 2026 – Finalist

Congratulations to Ali Tahayori whose work 'Queers Were Here Before They Arrived' has been selected as a finalist in this year's Blake Prize at the Liverpool Powerhouse, Casula.
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"A constellation of mirrored fragments forms an Arabic phrase that reads, 'Queers were here before they arrived' - the text shimmers between legibility and abstraction, between what is seen and what is reflected. ⁠
The mirror becomes both a surface of encounter and a site of refusal - a place where language, light, and gaze intertwine." - Ali Tahayori, 2025⁠
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Exhibition dates: 2 May to 14 June 2026⁠
Official launch: 1 May 2026⁠

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"A constellation of mirrored fragments forms an Arabic phrase that reads, 'Queers were here before they arrived' - the text shimmers between legibility and abstraction, between what is seen and what is reflected. ⁠
The mirror becomes both a surface of encounter and a site of refusal - a place where language, light, and gaze intertwine."

Ali Tahayori, 2025⁠