press text ii.ii

Awartani’s central installation in the exhibition gives ruin poetry a physical body: a melancholic visual requiem, the work comprises around 730 clay bricks assembled to look like traditional patterned flooring at first glance. In reality, they replicate the geometric designs adorning the outside walls of Qasr Al Basha palace, one of Gaza’s most significant landmarks. Dating back to the mid-13th century, the building carries typical elements from Mamluk and Ottoman architecture and sustained heavy damage in the past year.