Elizabeth Fullerton reviews the recent exhibition Etal Adnan: The Weight of the World at the Serpentine Gallery, London.

Fullerton writes: “Nature and war thread like twin strands through the multifaceted practice of this artist, who is also a poet, writer, and activist … while her vibrant visual output is largely inspired by nature, much of her writing addresses the brutal histories of her homeland and of other nations. The Serpentine exhibition focused on Adnan’s work from the 1960s to the present and spanned paintings, drawings, tapestries, ceramics, film, and leporelli (accordion-folded books) containing ink drawings and Arabic poems illustrated in watercolor.”