Rana Hamadeh: The Sleepwalkers

Overview

History is littered with tales of bleak deeds, and with art that takes inspiration from real-life acts of horror and darkness. Add Rana Hamadeh's The Sleepwalkers to the latter list — but don’t expect her first solo exhibition in Australia to be a typical true crime effort.

The Lebanese-born, Netherlands-based artist has enacted, then filmed, the infamous account of Raya and Sakina for her IMA showcase. Co-commissioned with Nottingham Contemporary and The Showroom in London, The Sleepwalkers rediscovers the Egyptian sister serial killers who were found guilty of the murders of 17 women, most of whom were sex workers. Their grim tale doesn't stop there, with the twosome becoming the first women to be executed by a legal court in the modern history of their country.

If that sounds like the kind of tale that must've inspired many a dramatised book, film, television show and theatre production about their lives and crimes, that's because it is. And if it sounds like an utterly enthralling presentation under Hamadeh's guidance, that's because it delivers on that front, too.