Deposition Layer


Emii Alrai


13 November - 12 December 2021

Open Daily 10am - 5pm

We recommend visiting the show before sunset at 4pm as the space does not have outdoor lighting.



We are thrilled to announce that the final exhibition at Threshold in 2021 will be Deposition Layer by Leeds-based artist Emii Alrai.

Emii is creating a new large-scale sculpture for the outdoor space at Threshold that considers the disintegration and decay of objects through time. The work will question how ancient artefacts in the present day become a void of their original state and context, their forms altered and narratives lost through erosion and acts of pillaging. Beauty and decadence is broken down over time, and reconstituted into concretions of raw stone surface decoration; enduring relics of vanished stories.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 13 November with an opening event between 2 - 5pm. No booking is required, everyone is welcome!

Alongside the exhibition is a limited edition publication documenting a conversation between Emii and Saad Maqbool about the themes that run through both of their practices. This publication includes a limited edition risograph print by Emii. As always, you will be able to pick up a free copy of the publication at the opening event on Saturday 13 November, and it is available to buy online through Threshold Editions for £5. All sales go towards future commissioning at Threshold. 


Emii will also be releasing a new limited edition sculpture with Threshold Editions. Please Sign up to our mailing list for the latest news and exclusive early access.




More information about the artist: 

Emii Alrai (b.1993) is an artist based in Leeds.

Alrai’s practice is informed by inherited nostalgia, geographical identity and post-colonial museum practices of collecting and displaying objects. Focusing on the ancient mythologies from the Middle East alongside personal oral histories of Iraq, Alrai weaves together narratives by forging artefacts and visualising residues of cultural collision. Often working at a large scale, Alrai creates sculptural installations that recall museological displays and dioramas.

Alrai graduated from BA Fine Art (2016) and MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies (2018) at the University of Leeds.

Recent exhibitions include: Stories We Tell Ourselves, Foreman Gallery, Quebec (2021); Ecdysis, Assembly Point, London (2021); Jerwood Solo Presentations, Jerwood Arts, London (2021); The High Dam, The Tetley, Leeds (2020); Tutelaries, VITRINE, London (2019); House of Teeming Cattle, Two Queens, Leicester (2019); An Ancient Quiver, GLOAM, Sheffield (2018). In 2022 she will be exhibiting at Eastside Projects, Birmingham and Visual Arts Centre Clarington, Canada.

Alrai was a Yorkshire Sculpture International Engagement Artist in 2019 and was selected for The Tetley Artist Associate Programme in 2018. She is a co-founder of artist collective Nocturne and participated in Making Marks, a project by The Arab British Centre and Mudeena Kuwait. In 2021 Alrai was an artist in residence at Triangle Astérides Residency, Marseille. Alrai has recently been selected for the prestigious Future Collect programme with iniva and The Hepworth Wakefield. The commissioned work will be exhibited at The Hepworth Wakefield in 2022.

Website: www.emiialrai.com
Instagram: @emiialrai








Mark