Runa Islam was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1970 and lives and works in London.

Following a residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, she has taken the nature of film as her principal subject, examining its narrative structure and its relationship to reality. Islam's short poignant films, often lasting only a few minutes, recreate cinematic moments of enchantment and disclose the artificial, constructed nature of filmmaking itself.

Islam's fragmented narratives are compelling and opaque at the same time, visually rich scenes that emphasise the impenetrability of human communication and personal language. 'Tuin' (1998) is a 16mm re-make of a short, evocative passage from Fassbinder's 'Martha' (1973), a film that twists the romantic patriarchal conventions of mainstream cinema through cinematic devices. Islam has recast a discreet yet pivotal moment from the film where the man and woman meet in a garden. The installation consists of a centrally placed panel showing the colour 16mm film with two black and white video projections on either side, showing different perspectives of the same moment. On one screen a woman walks towards a man, whose back we can see in the foreground. On the other, we are given the counter shot where the man is a distant figure in the background as the woman walks towards him. The protagonists silently pass each other without a word, a meeting heavy with suggestive significance but equally an opportunity missed.

Islam originally studied art history and philosophy and the act of intense observation and analysis of apparently simple events underpins all of her artistic output. 'Stare Out (Blink)' (1998) depicts a young woman gazing intently at the viewer who suddenly disappears leaving the ghostly after image of her presence imprinted on the viewer's retina. For Islam, the act of looking becomes a game between artist, viewer and subject where nothing is certain and everything is contingent. A lack of fulfilment and a frustration of the viewer's gaze are present in many of her works. In the video 'Turn (Gaze of Orpheus)' (1998), for example, a beautiful young woman slowly turns her head towards us; however, the viewers' gaze is deflected, as the face of the girl never fully comes into our vision.

Islam has recently exhibited in group exhibitions at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, The Norwich Art Gallery and the Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam. In 2000 she had her first solo exhibition in the UK at Fig-1, London and was awarded the prize for the best project in Guarene Arte 2000 at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo per l'Arte, Guarene d'Alba, Italy.