A balance of personal and political in Palestinian artist Emily Jacir's exhibition

An exhibition by Palestinian artist Emily Jacir is about to open at IMMA in Dublin. She tells Alan O’Riordan why some of her new work taps into Irish history

ONE of the pieces collected in the survey of Emily Jacir’s work opening at Imma this week, Embrace, is a low, circular platform made to look like an airport luggage carousel.

It turns fruitlessly, not a bag in sight. It’s a witty comment on waiting, and displacement, on the idea of never arriving. Jacir is from Bethlehem, so the leap from what might be a personal statement for another artist to an expression of the plight of her people is a very short one.