In these vessels, I reference museum artifacts collected from the SWANA region: Ceramic bowls inscribed with verses of Arabic poetry or proverbs. I’ve made my own bowls and decorated them with welcoming Farsi phrases: Befarma (please come/help yourself) and Nooshe Jan (may this food/drink nourish your soul). In doing so, I seek to reclaim elements of cultural identity entangled in the logics of imperial collection and display, recontextualizing them from static relics to living forms of language, gesture, and care. These phrases are welcoming invitations, spoken in homes and affectionately whispered over shared meals.
On View at TEMPEST Gallery, NYC.
July 31 - Aug 24
