Dana Awartani

This work is a requiem for the historical and cultural sites that have been destroyed in the Arab world during wars and by acts of terror, and which expands with each iteration to make room for newer documentation. This edition adds testimony to the devastation in Gaza and the sites that have been flattened indiscriminately through bombings and bulldozers, alongside seven other Arab nations – Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen.

Awartani tears nearly 400 holes across yards of silk, each rip marking a heritage site that has faced acts of terror and destruction. Then she darns—a fading practice far more intimate than patchwork but no longer valued—each gash tenderly as a gesture for healing; the scars a representation of the physical and emotional ones left behind in the real world. The fabric is dipped in around 50 herb and spice-based natural dyes that carry medicinal value, utilising the sacred healing properties embedded in traditional textile dyeing practices of Kerala, which Awartani spent time learning.

The panels, together, are borderless representations of annihilated cultural heritage. In the face of ongoing destruction as well as polluting effects of big industries, the work is both a plea to safeguard ancient civilisation in the Arab world as well as a bid to recall and rejoice in the collective history of artisanship, the knowledge of healing plants, and the venerable tradition of repairing and revering objects.