1. The birth of this project is to be traced in the personally unbearable awareness of atomization that we are enduring and causing as human beings. We live in a fractured time, where life is increasingly structured around fleeting, consumable moments. Life is atomised, individualised, driven by forces non-conducive to the flourishing of humanity.
Art is a vehicle for questioning and evolution, and, nonetheless, a vital tool for restoring this connection.Yet, where attention is fragmented and time is commodified, the way we engage with art has changed. We consume art quickly, and, on the other side, art is often presented in predictable formats, which creates a barrier to meaningful engagement.
Art is a vehicle for questioning and evolution, and, nonetheless, a vital tool for restoring this connection.Yet, where attention is fragmented and time is commodified, the way we engage with art has changed. We consume art quickly, and, on the other side, art is often presented in predictable formats, which creates a barrier to meaningful engagement.
3. This is not a theoretical study, but an applied, iterative research project. When it comes to creation, theory can lead to an emptiness of meaning. The way I interpret transformation, just like the way I will apply such concept into my practice is personal and unique, a reason why I approach curation as an artistic practice. Art is experiential.
The research is structured through alternating phases of research and application into exhibitions and performances to apply my learnings. Some of these exhibitions will feature my own artistic production, some won’t, depending on the model adopted in each phase, responding to the specific needs of my partners. From a curatorial perspective, each projet can therefore be regarded as independent.
2. To restore depth takes the ability to create alternative spaces of being— that encourage immersion, contemplation, and a shift in perception. When a space is designed with care, and art is presented in a way that invites lingering, transformation becomes inevitable. This transformation isn’t about changing minds; it is about reconnecting—to oneself, to others, to the environment, and to the essence of existence itself. Easier said than done.
Based on the theories of Schechner and Turner, Chul-Han, among others, my long-term vision is to integrate the elements of ritual that enable a sense of liminality and comm(unity) in curatorial practices, to create deep contemporary artistic experiences. By looking into tradition, studying and understanding these elements outside the constraints of our current system with the intention of establishing a connection, I aim to find ways to reclaim something that has been eroded and, in doing so redefine the role of art. In poor words, I aim to develop a new curatorial method.
1 _ Unconditional Acceptance, Preparation and Prolonged Time
The first project looks into Islamic prayer and Egyptian Sufi Mawlid rituals.Realized in collaboration with the Seldon Institute of Chicago. Research conducted between Cairo, St. Catherine, Humaithara, Egypt between March and June 2025.
For this project I am producing a short film and an exhibition featuring contemporary Egyptian artists in combination with my own work. The exhibition will take place at the Seldon Institute of Chicago in Spring 2026.
Manifesto
This exhibition is conceived as a journey. It is not only a collection of works, but an experience—an unfolding space that invites you to slow down, to feel, to reconsider.
It asks a question: What is Islam? It doesn’t seek any answer beyond an intimate resonance.
This answer is offered as an atmosphere, an encounter, a space of empathy with the world through the poetic lens of Islam’s philosophy.
Here, there are almost no humans. And yet, the presence of humanity is everywhere.
Full spaces and empty spaces. Silence and sound. Repetition and immersion.
It is a world of metaphors.
Organs that hold oceans.
Flowers that carry illness.
Photographs of landscapes that speak in human voices.
The natural and the human are reflected in one another, entwined, inseparable.
Through these works, the natural and the human dimensions reflect and intertwine, each completing the other.
The exhibition is not static. It unfolds as a performative gesture: drawings presented with immediacy, words placed sparingly as allusions, moments that lead you into reflection. Visitors are not passive spectators—they are participants. Each one is welcomed personally, guided gently, then left free to explore, to resonate with the space in their own way.
Repetition, immersion, slowing down are essential. This is a space that asks to linger, to lie down, to breathe, to allow yourself to get lost. Sounds and visual cues weave together into a collective meditation.
It is a world of connection: to oneself, to others, to the world.
The exhibition creates occasions for meeting, for sitting together, for conversation. It carries within it a way of approaching art that I encountered in Egypt: art not only as display, but as hospitality, as relation, as shared time.
This is a space that must be prolonged, savored, remembered.
A space of intimacy and freedom, where beauty opens pathways to empathy and where every visitor’s journey is unique.
This exhibition is conceived as a journey. It is not only a collection of works, but an experience—an unfolding space that invites you to slow down, to feel, to reconsider.
It asks a question: What is Islam? It doesn’t seek any answer beyond an intimate resonance.
This answer is offered as an atmosphere, an encounter, a space of empathy with the world through the poetic lens of Islam’s philosophy.
Here, there are almost no humans. And yet, the presence of humanity is everywhere.
Full spaces and empty spaces. Silence and sound. Repetition and immersion.
It is a world of metaphors.
Organs that hold oceans.
Flowers that carry illness.
Photographs of landscapes that speak in human voices.
The natural and the human are reflected in one another, entwined, inseparable.
Through these works, the natural and the human dimensions reflect and intertwine, each completing the other.
The exhibition is not static. It unfolds as a performative gesture: drawings presented with immediacy, words placed sparingly as allusions, moments that lead you into reflection. Visitors are not passive spectators—they are participants. Each one is welcomed personally, guided gently, then left free to explore, to resonate with the space in their own way.
Repetition, immersion, slowing down are essential. This is a space that asks to linger, to lie down, to breathe, to allow yourself to get lost. Sounds and visual cues weave together into a collective meditation.
It is a world of connection: to oneself, to others, to the world.
The exhibition creates occasions for meeting, for sitting together, for conversation. It carries within it a way of approaching art that I encountered in Egypt: art not only as display, but as hospitality, as relation, as shared time.
This is a space that must be prolonged, savored, remembered.
A space of intimacy and freedom, where beauty opens pathways to empathy and where every visitor’s journey is unique.