From Dust Till Dawn

The artist focused their work on the inscriptions of Wadi el-Hôl. They made eleven drawings dealing with the symbols of this early—if not the earliest—alphabetic inscription, dated to 1900–1800 BC. Six of them are exhibited in this exhibition. The drawings reflect on the symbols on a number of levels, including alphabetic history, shapes, and perspectives of the symbols. In addition, the subject of dust is explored through the experimental use of dry pastel pencils, including techniques inspired by the field of archaeology (scratching, brushing). In a second part of the project, the artist collaborated with contemporary dancer Abdelrahman Ahmed. Together they created a choreography based on Ahmed's translation of the inscription and drawings. The piece was filmed on a rooftop in Cairo. Video compositions and editing, especially cutting, are used to introduce a game with temporality.

The artist spent three months in Cairo for a studio residency awarded by Pro Helvetia.