Much of Nashashibi's work consists of films of everyday life in
urban environments. She works mainly with
16 mm film as well as
photography,
print and
painting.
Abbeys (2006) comprises a series of four black and white photographs that each depicts an upside-down view of an abbey's archway that when flipped as such reveals an anthropomorphic face. The uncanny images are based on photos Nashashibi found in an old photograph album.
The State of Things is a black-and-white film of old ladies at a
Salvation Army jumble sale in Glasgow with a love song by the Egyptian singer
Umm Kulthum on the soundtrack. The exact location of the film is unclear, and Nashashibi has said that many people, when first seeing the grainy footage, assume the women to be from some non-British culture or from an earlier time. Meeting in Glasgow, they began working together in 2005 when they made their first joint work called
The Ambassador, a two-screen video about the British Consul General in Hong Kong. They have continued to collaborate alongside their individual practices, most often making 16mm films together, to explore shared interests through film and exhibition making including female representation and global cultures. Their joint work has been exhibited widely internationally. The year-long residency includes working in the gallery's onsite studio, receipt of an award to fund her work for the year, access to the gallery's collections and research, and culminates in an exhibition and publication of work. In 2017 she was nominated for the
Turner Prize, exhibiting work in the Turner prize exhibition in the Ferens Gallery in Hull alongside the three other nominees. She exhibited the two films she was nominated for; ''Vivian's Garden
(2017) and Electrical Gaza
(2015). The work Vivian's Garden
was previously presented at Documenta 14,
which focuses on the relationship between and daily life of mother and daughter artists Vivian Suter and Elisabeth Wild at their home in Guatemala. Electrical Gaza'' was commissioned by the
Imperial War Museum, and combines real film footage with animation to depict the mixing of daily life in Gaza and the complex charged atmosphere of the place. In 2022 she was appointed as an artist trustee of
Tate by the
prime minister for a four-year term. == Awards ==