https://miriamhillawi.com Miriam Hillawi Abraham Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:51:49 +0000 https://miriamhillawi.com en https://miriamhillawi.com/Home-Image-Scroll Tue, 21 Mar 2023 11:05:25 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/Home-Image-Scroll <img width="7200" height="7920" width_o="7200" height_o="7920" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f6bfa4263d98c523d9764daa94f56f06a8c1e94c2867b7eb0f4e5135025fc31b/RavineOutlineedit.png" data-mid="172531005" border="0" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f6bfa4263d98c523d9764daa94f56f06a8c1e94c2867b7eb0f4e5135025fc31b/RavineOutlineedit.png" />Miriam Hillawi Abraham&nbsp; https://miriamhillawi.com/Info Tue, 21 Mar 2023 11:05:26 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/Info “I stood on the border, stood on the edge and claimed it as central and let the rest of the world move over to where I was.”&nbsp; Toni Morrison (1993) &nbsp;Through my creative practice I work to decipher and conserve oral histories and disappearing knowledge systems from across the Continent, striving for their continuation into the digital future. Design is ultimately a mechanism of self-affirmation. A method of driving preferable futures and worldviews. And as Blackness has been historically banished to the margins, the realms of the exotic, the unknown and unknowable, the politics of design and space making emboldens us to reinforce Black subjectivity and claim uncharted territories asserting and centering ourselves in multiple futures. <img width="3456" height="5184" width_o="3456" height_o="5184" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6ca9f3bba4973402871f61309760da82b6cd2ea0b5d163ca6016f6a3d3c8d0f1/_D3_5309-copy.jpg" data-mid="172530111" border="0" data-scale="85" data-no-zoom alt="Photo Credit: Paloma Lounice, 2023" data-caption="Photo Credit: Paloma Lounice, 2023" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6ca9f3bba4973402871f61309760da82b6cd2ea0b5d163ca6016f6a3d3c8d0f1/_D3_5309-copy.jpg" /> Photo Credit:&nbsp;Paloma Lounice, 2023 https://miriamhillawi.com/Abyssinian-Cyber-Vernaculus Tue, 21 Mar 2023 11:05:26 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/Abyssinian-Cyber-Vernaculus Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus Miriam Hillawi Abraham 2019 - 2022; Graham Foundation New Media Grant 2020 <img width="1200" height="780" width_o="1200" height_o="780" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c23f140cb13a92078addfc36a8c801dbc9adacc82cc04ca3cad3207a7a9e32f7/1_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus_Miriam.jpg" data-mid="172522427" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c23f140cb13a92078addfc36a8c801dbc9adacc82cc04ca3cad3207a7a9e32f7/1_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus_Miriam.jpg" /> Still from Virtual Reality / 2019From The Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus (first iteration) The Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus is a series of visual narratives that unfold over the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia. Using methods of virtual immersion and narrative mythmaking, this work seeks to uncover and reinstate the presence of those marginalized and maligned by the dominant conservative ethos of contemporary Ethiopian society, while pushing up against the apocryphal stories of Africa. The virtual reality component of this body of work activates the existing architecture of the site through three parallel narrative-driven experiences constructed around the perspectives of the self-proclaimed experts of the site: the western academic or white savior (depicted by an Indiana Jones spoof), the conservative Orthodox Christian Ethiopian man and the Hotep (pro-black yet non-progressive cis man). After being awarded a new media grant from the Graham Foundation in 2020, the project has featured in the World Around Summit at the Guggenheim Museum and will be featured in the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia as part of the Special Project “Guests from the Future”, curated by Lesley Lokko. In each instance, the player assumes the role of one of these heroes in VR and drives the narrative forward, ultimately going on an unexpected journey of unlearning. The Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus can be regarded as Lalibela’s “digital twin”, however intentionally inaccurate and often contradictory. Through the form and presence of this digital twin Lalibela resists destruction in the physical present, be it through a gradual decay (natural erosion) or immediate threat of violence of man (the current war in Northern Ethiopia), and extends its life through digital continuity, refabrication and mythical mutation. <img width="1801" height="825" width_o="1801" height_o="825" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3b491840e79f2a2f9402279363be57d63c46536dc29e71d1dd07876cc53781aa/MiriamHillawiAbraham_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus3.png" data-mid="172531168" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3b491840e79f2a2f9402279363be57d63c46536dc29e71d1dd07876cc53781aa/MiriamHillawiAbraham_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus3.png" /> Stills from Virtual Reality Experience / 2022From The Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus (with support from Graham Foundation) <img width="5472" height="3648" width_o="5472" height_o="3648" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d82656f960d9be317cc659fd4a03edaeb42197d1c21321468bc2c97d7f9b261b/MiriamHillawiAbraham_Abyssinian-Cyber-Vernaculus_Exhibition.jpg" data-mid="172531166" border="0" alt="Solo Show at St George Golla Art Gallery 2022, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia" data-caption="Solo Show at St George Golla Art Gallery 2022, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d82656f960d9be317cc659fd4a03edaeb42197d1c21321468bc2c97d7f9b261b/MiriamHillawiAbraham_Abyssinian-Cyber-Vernaculus_Exhibition.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="998" width_o="1200" height_o="998" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d089e4f6b62257ac36fbcfb815a2f033b3cda4c0b1075c87167e7d2e6caac708/2_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus_Miriam.jpg" data-mid="172523612" border="0" alt="Hubbel Street Galleries San Francisco 2019, California College of the Arts MFA Thesis Show" data-caption="Hubbel Street Galleries San Francisco 2019, California College of the Arts MFA Thesis Show" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d089e4f6b62257ac36fbcfb815a2f033b3cda4c0b1075c87167e7d2e6caac708/2_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus_Miriam.jpg" /> <img width="750" height="417" width_o="750" height_o="417" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d3c6f5c56b455c9beaf0c58e5fe252b08836dad926f2c26a7d3a8635f7fe756a/IMG_3753.PNG" data-mid="172537311" border="0" alt="The World Around Summit 2022, The Guggenheim Museum NYC" data-caption="The World Around Summit 2022, The Guggenheim Museum NYC" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/750/i/d3c6f5c56b455c9beaf0c58e5fe252b08836dad926f2c26a7d3a8635f7fe756a/IMG_3753.PNG" /> <img width="648" height="458" width_o="648" height_o="458" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5455fd0ab82c332373b27d0b7a6176b775c78917ca89bb97ae7e00e5aa191a37/MiriamAbraham_Portfolio2022_goddess.jpg" data-mid="172544629" border="0" alt="Still from Virtual Reality Experience of the Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus 2022" data-caption="Still from Virtual Reality Experience of the Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus 2022" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/648/i/5455fd0ab82c332373b27d0b7a6176b775c78917ca89bb97ae7e00e5aa191a37/MiriamAbraham_Portfolio2022_goddess.jpg" /> <img width="546" height="330" width_o="546" height_o="330" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e712de89f227e5e81237366c57d9112409da7129a01ddfcb35e47be9db82d29c/MiriamAbraham_Portfolio2022.jpg" data-mid="172544617" border="0" alt="Still from Virtual Reality Experience of the Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus 2022" data-caption="Still from Virtual Reality Experience of the Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus 2022" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/546/i/e712de89f227e5e81237366c57d9112409da7129a01ddfcb35e47be9db82d29c/MiriamAbraham_Portfolio2022.jpg" /> <img width="711" height="400" width_o="711" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/34e21c02f1a5ae29b43f556d0a35e03e82abe02a6317b289817f92478b4b4a82/MiriamHillawiAbraham_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus2.jpg" data-mid="172536391" border="0" alt="Still from Virtual Reality Experience of the Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus 2022" data-caption="Still from Virtual Reality Experience of the Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus 2022" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/711/i/34e21c02f1a5ae29b43f556d0a35e03e82abe02a6317b289817f92478b4b4a82/MiriamHillawiAbraham_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus2.jpg" /> https://miriamhillawi.com/Museum-of-Monstrology Tue, 21 Mar 2023 11:05:27 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/Museum-of-Monstrology Museum of Monstrology Miriam Hillawi Abraham &amp; Heejoon June Yoon 2023 <img width="3300" height="2550" width_o="3300" height_o="2550" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/60506771ba1f5ffc0dfb1fad1bdd3636cba05212f286bd39ed72f90f21846931/MiriamHillawiAbraham_MuseumofMonstrology3.jpg" data-mid="172527392" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/60506771ba1f5ffc0dfb1fad1bdd3636cba05212f286bd39ed72f90f21846931/MiriamHillawiAbraham_MuseumofMonstrology3.jpg" /> Cyanotype / 2023 Backwater, Pocoapoco, Oaxaca, Mexico &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; “I want to stay with the trouble, and the only way I know to do that is in generative joy, terror, and collective thinking.” - Donna Haraway, Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene The Museum of Monstrology (est 2023) is a research-based artist collective between multidisciplinary designers Miriam Hillawi Abraham and Heejoon June Yoon. As the archivists of the Museum of Monsterology, our mission is to create a digital bestiary of what we deem “necessary monsters”, from the primeval to the inconceivable future. Necessary monsters spawn in distinct geographies and timelines, appearing and disappearing in lore as omens, warnings of the unknown or what will come to be.&nbsp; How do these monsters or mutating bodies force us to reconsider ideas of territory and belonging? <img width="968" height="884" width_o="968" height_o="884" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1a122285dfbc17ff2e7a42ac760285aa66c0c319d4603eb0227953a61c85907f/MuseumofMonsterology_accordion.jpg" data-mid="172528264" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/968/i/1a122285dfbc17ff2e7a42ac760285aa66c0c319d4603eb0227953a61c85907f/MuseumofMonsterology_accordion.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="2550" width_o="3300" height_o="2550" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/582ca94e604a0389d5239a12694438194fbf7ed3b80739f05c107d3c22e9199f/MiriamHillawiAbraham_MuseumofMonstrology5.jpg" data-mid="172528714" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/582ca94e604a0389d5239a12694438194fbf7ed3b80739f05c107d3c22e9199f/MiriamHillawiAbraham_MuseumofMonstrology5.jpg" /> <img width="3300" height="2550" width_o="3300" height_o="2550" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/191dd7b117149d5d0515b314ced5bc24f25ddc65e7ca06f976cc25e47c880210/MiriamHillawiAbraham_MuseumofMonstrology4.jpg" data-mid="172528727" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/191dd7b117149d5d0515b314ced5bc24f25ddc65e7ca06f976cc25e47c880210/MiriamHillawiAbraham_MuseumofMonstrology4.jpg" /> <img width="1044" height="1458" width_o="1044" height_o="1458" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9da01760c7e75d3cb88942f3f80bff0222d1889cdb400babb7994a1cfbe2c4dd/charcoaldrawing_wilbers_monster.jpg" data-mid="172535256" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9da01760c7e75d3cb88942f3f80bff0222d1889cdb400babb7994a1cfbe2c4dd/charcoaldrawing_wilbers_monster.jpg" /> <img width="1932" height="1394" width_o="1932" height_o="1394" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fff47b702e8c0d69feac634169f05fa74d6168e368cd05a2a6bc3d12dca58810/samscastle.png" data-mid="172535923" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fff47b702e8c0d69feac634169f05fa74d6168e368cd05a2a6bc3d12dca58810/samscastle.png" /> <img width="802" height="760" width_o="802" height_o="760" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2116c98b08afefd4caeb873cdc55ca54fac29585e603663af1681bc3b969793d/MuseumofMonsterology_crocodile.jpg" data-mid="172528375" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/802/i/2116c98b08afefd4caeb873cdc55ca54fac29585e603663af1681bc3b969793d/MuseumofMonsterology_crocodile.jpg" /> <img width="818" height="762" width_o="818" height_o="762" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/97a9708c8cd6a395f056e1fcd1ab032df3f88717f7ce8778a00fefb7fdfd0278/MuseumofMonsterology_waterfall2.jpg" data-mid="172528189" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/818/i/97a9708c8cd6a395f056e1fcd1ab032df3f88717f7ce8778a00fefb7fdfd0278/MuseumofMonsterology_waterfall2.jpg" /> Mixed media / 2023 Anatomies of our Monsters, Pocoapoco, Oaxaca, Mexico “The words ‘monster’, ‘monstrosity’ and ‘monstrousness’ all have their etymological root in the Latin monstrare, meaning both to show and also to warn or advise.” -&nbsp; Alexa Wright, Monstrosity: The Human Monster in Visual Culture We collect these beings in an evolving bestiary, luring them out from shadow and poaching them to build our collections like historians of a bygone era. Ours is a process of transmutation (imaginatively interpreting dreams and lore through visual media) and classification (manufacturing fictional evidence and retroactive myths to situate them in our present). As our shared concepts of normative realities alter based on the needs and desires of society’s present day conditions, monsters of yore are banished, forgotten, disappeared or debunked in place of new fearful creatures that lurk just outside our understanding. The monster also represents The Other, a transgressive figure beyond the frame of the understanding or empathy of the Colonial figure. Unfamiliar and exotic, the monster often emerges as a negative reflection, or inversion of what is considered the normal body, sometimes a corrosive distinction between citizen and foreigner, colonizer and subaltern. How do we see ourselves in the image of the monster? https://miriamhillawi.com/Through-Time-and-Terra Mon, 20 Nov 2023 13:22:06 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/Through-Time-and-Terra Through Time and Terra: A Non-Extractive Archaeology of the Future &nbsp; La Biennale di Venezia, 18th International Architecture Exhibition, Curator’s Special Projects : Guests from the Future Miriam Hillawi Abraham, 2023 <img width="720" height="960" width_o="720" height_o="960" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f0468facbc33bf3bdc2e419654a3b5dbf9e2799c96575f54dd761ac40dc46628/MiriamHillawiAbraham_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus_Biennale1.JPG" data-mid="197383780" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/720/i/f0468facbc33bf3bdc2e419654a3b5dbf9e2799c96575f54dd761ac40dc46628/MiriamHillawiAbraham_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus_Biennale1.JPG" /> <img width="720" height="960" width_o="720" height_o="960" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cb7704a44d3a2a28f07be364000ff6dd29ccb87abcb1f251ca8b37dc2add72df/MiriamHillawiAbraham_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus_Biennale2.JPG" data-mid="197384142" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/720/i/cb7704a44d3a2a28f07be364000ff6dd29ccb87abcb1f251ca8b37dc2add72df/MiriamHillawiAbraham_AbyssinianCyberVernaculus_Biennale2.JPG" /> Laser etched plexiglass contour model with projected animation / 2023 Through Time and Terra, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; “STILL THERE ARE SEEDS TO BE GATHERED AND ROOM ENOUGH IN THE BAG OF STARS” - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction The Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus is a mode of architectural transmutation that slips past the physical barriers of deterioration and decay into the imaginary. For The Laboratory of the Future, this self-contained non-world is mined to produce an installation that looks across the strata of time and terra from the perspective of a detached ‘guest from the future’. The installation is a microcosm of the Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus, where an animated film follows a rotating gaze that gradually burrows deeper into the centre of a physical model of the virtual terrain, a God-like view that mines for its secrets, unsettling earth and waking long-forgotten ghosts. As this body of work evolved, it emerged into an expansive universe with its own histories and guardians and as such began to serve as a folly to the physical site. As the churches themselves, carved from living rock, appear immutable in reality they face deterioration and change despite the efforts of bureaucratic conservationists and ecclesiastical orders. The Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus thus operates as a mode of architectural transmutation that slips past these barriers into the imaginary. <img width="3508" height="4961" width_o="3508" height_o="4961" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/778ca0328f19777b3007615fd5c716691570774b744e964c2e67d9fe6d19555a/GuestFromtheFuture_Pleximodel-specs_transparent.png" data-mid="197385762" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/778ca0328f19777b3007615fd5c716691570774b744e964c2e67d9fe6d19555a/GuestFromtheFuture_Pleximodel-specs_transparent.png" /> Installation Design / 2023 Through Time and Terra, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy By planting false evidence in the context it is able to redirect Lalibela’s history and open up multiple channels of futurism as the existing architecture bears witness to these stories, able to resist ruination and extend its life into the digital. <img width="2048" height="1524" width_o="2048" height_o="1524" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/964ad640bb1ba9c7b3903df9b8549a7a6ee7b090779869f1ae4de74a95c712b7/2e2aa007-b41a-45ba-9578-5e3334ccca8b.JPG" data-mid="197386567" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/964ad640bb1ba9c7b3903df9b8549a7a6ee7b090779869f1ae4de74a95c712b7/2e2aa007-b41a-45ba-9578-5e3334ccca8b.JPG" /> <img width="720" height="960" width_o="720" height_o="960" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d9e4cfc8ec4bc42c5077da515dea957e59af89184f7231a690c1ab40b7f1054b/148433A1-E665-4D8A-84DA-82D201D2A2BF.JPG" data-mid="197386566" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/720/i/d9e4cfc8ec4bc42c5077da515dea957e59af89184f7231a690c1ab40b7f1054b/148433A1-E665-4D8A-84DA-82D201D2A2BF.JPG" /> <img width="1890" height="2048" width_o="1890" height_o="2048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9996cbc955c1f728df3b0d67b1cf2e65132d4ffcbbb13447456884442ec9d3c2/1395ee0c-938f-4769-8e56-a22b5f2808e7.JPG" data-mid="197386565" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9996cbc955c1f728df3b0d67b1cf2e65132d4ffcbbb13447456884442ec9d3c2/1395ee0c-938f-4769-8e56-a22b5f2808e7.JPG" /> Laser etched plexiglass contour model with projected animation / 2023 Through Time and Terra, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy https://miriamhillawi.com/The-Museum-of-Artifice Mon, 20 Nov 2023 14:15:16 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/The-Museum-of-Artifice The Museum of Artifice &nbsp;Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE Miriam Hillawi Abraham, 2023 <img width="1773" height="2364" width_o="1773" height_o="2364" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5ad0661ac1771e06207a4dbb9d51368cfc80f05fbb4809b984ad20bc7dfc05e/sharjah-architecture-triennial-2023-pavilions-installations_dezeen_2364_col_16-scaled.jpg" data-mid="197387244" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e5ad0661ac1771e06207a4dbb9d51368cfc80f05fbb4809b984ad20bc7dfc05e/sharjah-architecture-triennial-2023-pavilions-installations_dezeen_2364_col_16-scaled.jpg" /> Reconstructed facade built from Pink Himalayan Salt Blocks / 2023 The Museum of Artifice, 2nd Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE Photo by Tom Ravenscroft for Dezeen &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The Museum of Artifice explores architectural conservation as a mode of storytelling and mythmaking, complicating notions of heritage and dissolving the limits of territory. Stemming from the larger project of The Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus, the errant digital twin of the Lalibela Churches in Northern Ethiopia, the work co-mingles with (and at times confronts) the resident myths of heritage in Sharjah. The practice of preservation and repair is entwined with narrative. Why do we choose to demolish some structures and rebuild or preserve others? In doing so, which myths and stories are we intentionally building in order to justify the legitimacy of our past? In the Museum of Artifice the deceitfully authentic facade of Beite Abba Libanos is re-fabricated here using locally sourced salt blocks. Salt at once ubiquitous and scarce, common in some contexts and precious in others, becomes the medium, the building block of this story of relation and restitution. The use of salt in this context directly relates to the Triennial’s themes of scarcity and impermanence. In the same way that early settlers of Sharjah used “coral stone”, salt blocks were also used in other regions of material scarcity such as the use of mortar bonded salt blocks found in the Danakil Depression of Ethiopia. <img width="1300" height="1931" width_o="1300" height_o="1931" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ba9c2b3a2e8a268123acc4c231762946a9b90a2d304b7b5d546022637d26c8c/salt-brick.jpg" data-mid="197392031" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ba9c2b3a2e8a268123acc4c231762946a9b90a2d304b7b5d546022637d26c8c/salt-brick.jpg" /> Reconstructed facade built from Pink Himalayan Salt Blocks / 2023 The Museum of Artifice, 2nd Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE “ Je bâtis a roches mon langage.” (I build my language with rocks.) - Eduard Glissant, L’intention Poetique Thus the alien architecture arrives in Sharjah, far from its home on the other side of the Red Sea, mutating from stone to salt, carrying with it, its attendant myths and spectres. Under this guise, it operates as a world nested within another, singular yet porous to its surroundings. Within this space violent dispossession is confronted through the digital fabrication and recontextualization of replicas of looted Abyssinian artifacts, specifically ecclesial instruments commonly used in the sacred rites of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church. The replicas featured in the work are those of artifacts still held in Western museums, who have stalled or refused restitution efforts. <img width="2554" height="3406" width_o="2554" height_o="3406" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f09e7a34c07da80f0de762a9f085865b94136874fab3ed550c4c39f245176318/IMG_1242.jpg" data-mid="197391181" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f09e7a34c07da80f0de762a9f085865b94136874fab3ed550c4c39f245176318/IMG_1242.jpg" /> Censer (Incense Burner) Salt fossilized re-fabricated looted artifact / 2023 The Museum of Artifice, 2nd Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE <img width="1345" height="810" width_o="1345" height_o="810" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/61ef3d305baf1445ef190c092c76c8182fa22e35d829c8a394cf1364379bb8bb/Miriam_Concept_MusuemofArtifice2.png" data-mid="197389944" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/61ef3d305baf1445ef190c092c76c8182fa22e35d829c8a394cf1364379bb8bb/Miriam_Concept_MusuemofArtifice2.png" /> <img width="1627" height="996" width_o="1627" height_o="996" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/20c58ef1f67c1611455d409273187928e5f60e2b23fcc6ed5118017efd6f9c8e/Miriam_WIP_SaltChurch.png" data-mid="197387311" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/20c58ef1f67c1611455d409273187928e5f60e2b23fcc6ed5118017efd6f9c8e/Miriam_WIP_SaltChurch.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bbeb46e38c9df8f0d2eacae064341c097e894a606fcd410b57964b3988681256/Miriam_Technofossil1.png" data-mid="197387457" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bbeb46e38c9df8f0d2eacae064341c097e894a606fcd410b57964b3988681256/Miriam_Technofossil1.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7dbb038a2aa27b472c64f895f483f028bf3e65b6ef3146f48661bb0321e738f1/Miriam_SaltyTechnofossil3.png" data-mid="197387667" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7dbb038a2aa27b472c64f895f483f028bf3e65b6ef3146f48661bb0321e738f1/Miriam_SaltyTechnofossil3.png" /> Concept Design for Installation / 2022-23 The Museum of Artifice, 2nd Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE <img width="2480" height="1748" width_o="2480" height_o="1748" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fbb0ff01be877d23e8528b5b84f1b8edf8f315ff1b57a4f6383a893b7da97a1d/Artifact_Metadata_CommunionChalice_example.png" data-mid="197392296" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fbb0ff01be877d23e8528b5b84f1b8edf8f315ff1b57a4f6383a893b7da97a1d/Artifact_Metadata_CommunionChalice_example.png" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ddd866efa0ef3e2e5c4a93be59d291e68812ceca0b4e0bd2568463ba679f659d/IMG_1237.jpg" data-mid="197392546" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ddd866efa0ef3e2e5c4a93be59d291e68812ceca0b4e0bd2568463ba679f659d/IMG_1237.jpg" /> Communion Chalice, Salt fossilized re-fabricated looted artifact / 2023 The Museum of Artifice, 2nd Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE Architectural heritage is often seen as permanent, something to reference to assert belonging or construct a collective identity, but it is far from permanent as it can be physical destroyed by a tremor in the earth or an act of violence and can be endowed with new meaning and intent by those who presume authority of it, letting it belong to some while blocking others from being able to ground their identities in it. These spaces are haunted. Those who have turned to dust long ago can return to us in the guise of myths, myths that have undone their mortality and at times morality. And such myths seep into these architectures, and Lalibela having mutated from stone to salt, arrives in Sharjah, carrying with it its attendant myths and spectres. The Museum of Artifice plays with this delicate impermanence as with each visitor the surface of the salt blocks will degrade gradually into dissolution, as every touch, breath and whisper melts away at the wall’s surface. <img width="750" height="557" width_o="750" height_o="557" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a27c9aa16bd23b0e5cc28d99e7147813f14d89b2854980c38cd849738e61c27d/IMG_1371.PNG" data-mid="197392810" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/750/i/a27c9aa16bd23b0e5cc28d99e7147813f14d89b2854980c38cd849738e61c27d/IMG_1371.PNG" /> <img width="1042" height="1436" width_o="1042" height_o="1436" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f64d2db346c6d4475131824e51043688f2daca2131f994f83e226ff1943391c3/IMG_13702.png" data-mid="197392939" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f64d2db346c6d4475131824e51043688f2daca2131f994f83e226ff1943391c3/IMG_13702.png" /> <img width="7431" height="9772" width_o="7431" height_o="9772" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/428c828236343f16a13da14c5cb5c9591f92e8a35af96d7e29d6d1179be1e686/IMG_1043_1.jpg" data-mid="197393248" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/428c828236343f16a13da14c5cb5c9591f92e8a35af96d7e29d6d1179be1e686/IMG_1043_1.jpg" /> Reconstructed facade built from Pink Himalayan Salt Blocks / 2023 The Museum of Artifice, 2nd Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE https://miriamhillawi.com/Cosmic-Outpost Mon, 03 Nov 2025 09:21:19 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/Cosmic-Outpost Cosmic Oupost Installation &nbsp; &nbsp;Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, NL Miriam Hillawi Abraham, 2025 <img width="7485" height="5614" width_o="7485" height_o="5614" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c188e0c069d2d8bee3233b38f60d14e3c51b773d4d957afea2d040115314703c/2miriam_hillawi_abraham23_DSF7905.jpg" data-mid="240185055" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c188e0c069d2d8bee3233b38f60d14e3c51b773d4d957afea2d040115314703c/2miriam_hillawi_abraham23_DSF7905.jpg" /><img width="6818" height="3836" width_o="6818" height_o="3836" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/94da7223b3dd38cf0fc2f7c87927ebfe6f3b794a2eaf032e3eb352dc6003a937/miriam_hillawi_abraham21_C6A7718.jpg" data-mid="240185209" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/94da7223b3dd38cf0fc2f7c87927ebfe6f3b794a2eaf032e3eb352dc6003a937/miriam_hillawi_abraham21_C6A7718.jpg" /> Exhibition view / 2025 The Cosmic Outpost, Jan van Eyck Open Studios,&nbsp;NL &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The (Incomplete) Cosmic Catalogue is a culmination of several years of research and exploration into precolonial cosmologies and spatial orders rooted in the African Sahel extending to the Horn of Africa (with The Canadian Centre for Architecture). Using methods of abstraction, deflection, and overlay, the work examines the tensions between the accessibility or legibility that cultural preservation demands and the willful opacity of sacred orders and the unseen world of spirit realms and "non-worlds." <img width="2560" height="1706" width_o="2560" height_o="1706" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/970ff660cbe9f82d2bc96f55bb73bd9f4a9f1675cff0e453fc5b79597a121215/OHPGUMmiriam_hillawi_abraham15_C6A7937.jpg" data-mid="240186513" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/970ff660cbe9f82d2bc96f55bb73bd9f4a9f1675cff0e453fc5b79597a121215/OHPGUMmiriam_hillawi_abraham15_C6A7937.jpg" /> <img width="6661" height="3747" width_o="6661" height_o="3747" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cf4262db0727ec46dab7ebd8f7b80f42be4a93bd2e20d4945d4bf15d45cf0157/Control_miriam_hillawi_abraham06_C6A7733.jpg" data-mid="240185837" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cf4262db0727ec46dab7ebd8f7b80f42be4a93bd2e20d4945d4bf15d45cf0157/Control_miriam_hillawi_abraham06_C6A7733.jpg" /> <img width="6894" height="3878" width_o="6894" height_o="3878" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b876f18810576592b7a6c0e28ff1552ac297d4377df473278e76df74cf3d6c55/Studiomiriam_hillawi_abraham01_C6A7696.jpg" data-mid="240209593" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b876f18810576592b7a6c0e28ff1552ac297d4377df473278e76df74cf3d6c55/Studiomiriam_hillawi_abraham01_C6A7696.jpg" /> <img width="6328" height="4219" width_o="6328" height_o="4219" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6981f0023cc950d5680f473acafa26c960595b0e21a84d3acf3a5ec1808d1e69/Spheremiriam_hillawi_abraham02_C6A7757.jpg" data-mid="240209595" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6981f0023cc950d5680f473acafa26c960595b0e21a84d3acf3a5ec1808d1e69/Spheremiriam_hillawi_abraham02_C6A7757.jpg" /> <img width="6612" height="4408" width_o="6612" height_o="4408" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a43a74477b812e9c3bff32569e68a469b7db5fca4dff4c66e5da17aeb6a5e13/miriam_hillawi_abraham17_C6A7948.jpg" data-mid="240186489" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a43a74477b812e9c3bff32569e68a469b7db5fca4dff4c66e5da17aeb6a5e13/miriam_hillawi_abraham17_C6A7948.jpg" /> <img width="5039" height="3359" width_o="5039" height_o="3359" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/831eec7bf6b3bff7dbca6f6215bec9a2745f82afb36f1934289ca008ad7f1053/miriam_hillawi_abraham20_C6A7967.jpg" data-mid="240209594" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/831eec7bf6b3bff7dbca6f6215bec9a2745f82afb36f1934289ca008ad7f1053/miriam_hillawi_abraham20_C6A7967.jpg" /> “Gazelle with celestial ankles, the pearls are my stars on the night of your skin, Delighted games of the mind, red-gold reflections upon your flaming skin. In the shadow of your hair my anguish flees near the suns of your eyes.” - Léopold Sédar Senghor, Femme noire, Chants d’ombre, 1964 The catalogue is intended to be a nomadic guide or analogue toolkit to navigate our shared sky of the Northern Celestial Hemisphere above the equator. The space functions as a cosmic outpost, where one can study terrestrial schemas, fragmented geographies, unruly desert matter and disobedient stars. The work is ultimately an invitation to reorient oneself against the gaze of the cosmos. Here the talisman serves as a navigational device that persists even in the face of displacement and dispossession. <img width="2779" height="2780" width_o="2779" height_o="2780" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6355de83e90be303e6dc3f842f2173b85548e85f3516bc614286cb49eb23a8d8/miriam_hillawi_abraham09_DSF7920a.png" data-mid="240198286" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6355de83e90be303e6dc3f842f2173b85548e85f3516bc614286cb49eb23a8d8/miriam_hillawi_abraham09_DSF7920a.png" /> Etching of Andromeda and Pegasus imprinted in Arabic Gum against the constellations / 2025 The Cosmic Outpost, Jan van Eyck Open Studios, NL Gum arabic: gum acacia, gum sudani, Senegal gum, ሙጫ – tree resin harvested from acacia trees growing in the Sahel, Sub Saharan Africa, or the "Gum Belt," to be more precise. Across the Sahel, this gum is burned with incense and used in both food and traditional medicine. Seemingly precious and magical, it is present in almost all market goods, down to the most mundane object like the postage stamp (used as a “lickable adhesive”).&nbsp; But this oozing, sticky, viscous, crystalline, stateless material is more than an extractable potable resource. It is a language of trees and a record of all life on earth.&nbsp; <img width="5974" height="3982" width_o="5974" height_o="3982" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/57855586254c94df971c4b82746fef1f627834379533e91fc88a4dd727121194/miriam_hillawi_abraham03_DSF7875.jpg" data-mid="240185155" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/57855586254c94df971c4b82746fef1f627834379533e91fc88a4dd727121194/miriam_hillawi_abraham03_DSF7875.jpg" /> <img width="3533" height="2052" width_o="3533" height_o="2052" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1693d287f2a0325a8752ae1342b35762e58ac919a4c7e845934889c72c5974dc/miriam_hillawi_abraham11_C6A7921a.jpg" data-mid="240186340" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1693d287f2a0325a8752ae1342b35762e58ac919a4c7e845934889c72c5974dc/miriam_hillawi_abraham11_C6A7921a.jpg" /> 2D Gum lensed talisman and Cast Tin Talisman / 2025 The Cosmic Outpost, Jan van Eyck Open Studios, NL https://miriamhillawi.com/THE-NIGHT-THAT-DREAMS-COSMOLOGIES-OF-SCALE Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:51:49 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/THE-NIGHT-THAT-DREAMS-COSMOLOGIES-OF-SCALE THE NIGHT THAT DREAMS — COSMOLOGIES OF SCALE &nbsp; &nbsp;Solo Exhibition at RADIUS, Delft, NL Miriam Hillawi Abraham, 2026 <img width="7737" height="5158" width_o="7737" height_o="5158" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a18afffc3bf6fe59e31a5cf79fead71700fcd6fcf835cd4331b43d3bcbcdccf1/HR_RadiusCCA_extra_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-1.jpg" data-mid="250177689" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a18afffc3bf6fe59e31a5cf79fead71700fcd6fcf835cd4331b43d3bcbcdccf1/HR_RadiusCCA_extra_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-1.jpg" /> Organic specimens in Gum Arabic and archival images on lightbox / 2026 Miriam Hillawi Abraham, The Night That Dreams : Cosmologies of Scale, RADIUS CCA,&nbsp;NL Photo Credit: Sander van Wettum, courtesy of RADIUS &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; “This is the hour of the stars and of the Night that dreams reclining on that range of clouds, draped in its long gown of milk.The roofs of the huts gleam gently. What are they so confidently telling to the stars? ” - Léopold Sédar Senghor, Nuit de Sine, 1990&nbsp; <img width="7954" height="5303" width_o="7954" height_o="5303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b665aa8d21911e87279bf750a0e26d4b0b7b4745704bb6f682c2165239e09875/2_HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-3.jpg" data-mid="250177904" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b665aa8d21911e87279bf750a0e26d4b0b7b4745704bb6f682c2165239e09875/2_HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-3.jpg" /> <img width="7719" height="5146" width_o="7719" height_o="5146" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5792f9ea4196cdf1a2d4644e8326048af908875e19d870170992ddde3339c0e0/HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-10.jpg" data-mid="250177688" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5792f9ea4196cdf1a2d4644e8326048af908875e19d870170992ddde3339c0e0/HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-10.jpg" /> <img width="8103" height="5402" width_o="8103" height_o="5402" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/76f5aa5da18afa4413f587a22f4cf92b5f53e31881d1899ee17c0b841c4d485c/HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-4.jpg" data-mid="250177741" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/76f5aa5da18afa4413f587a22f4cf92b5f53e31881d1899ee17c0b841c4d485c/HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-4.jpg" /> Exhibition View / 2026 Miriam Hillawi Abraham, The Night That Dreams : Cosmologies of Scale, RADIUS CCA, NLPhoto Credit: Sander van Wettum, courtesy of RADIUS “RADIUS is pleased to present THE NIGHT THAT DREAMS — COSMOLOGIES OF SCALE, a solo exhibition by Miriam Hillawi Abraham. This exhibition marks a new iteration in her longstanding research on pre-colonial African cosmologies. This body of work studies and draws constellations between African cosmologies and spatial orders as multi-scalar repositories of lived knowledges and world-building traditions. Working intersectionally, she seeks to uphold the rich tapestry of African cosmologies whilst complicating Western colonial legacies, which have long dictated their (mis)understanding. Against a backdrop of Western canonical bias, standardisation and homogeneity, Abraham’s work is an expansive offering to know, practice, and imagine otherwise in reclaimed agency over ancestral traditions.” - RADIUS CCA&nbsp; <img width="5504" height="8256" width_o="5504" height_o="8256" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ca8ef734775d6f2fca9b77f671eb2df8c16d4df395b82ca748666f761892c578/HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-1.jpg" data-mid="250177686" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ca8ef734775d6f2fca9b77f671eb2df8c16d4df395b82ca748666f761892c578/HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-1.jpg" /> <img width="5279" height="7919" width_o="5279" height_o="7919" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6db5400e1c505ee04db91316b0f7370ed6e86a6e5bc6aecc89f010f6ca5e005b/HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-2.jpg" data-mid="250177687" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6db5400e1c505ee04db91316b0f7370ed6e86a6e5bc6aecc89f010f6ca5e005b/HR_RadiusCCA_Deaardedenktvoortdurendmee_foto_door_sandervanwettum-2.jpg" /> Lens based floor projection of etching in Arabic Gum / 2026 Miriam Hillawi Abraham, The Night That Dreams : Cosmologies of Scale, RADIUS CCA, NLPhoto Credit:&nbsp;Sander van Wettum, courtesy of RADIUS “In this exhibition, an array of elements constitute an observatory for speculative cosmological inquiry. Lenses, projections, specimens, maps, cosmograms, and talismans are means to study African cosmologies following a methodology of interscalarity: the observation and analysis of phenomena across different scales of time and space simultaneously, rather than in isolation and decontextualised from one another. This manifests in the constant interplay of size, distortion, and layering that the works engage with. Interscalarity is a conscious choice to not only reveal the entanglement between Sahelian cosmologies but to also embrace and reveal the material and epistemological plurality of indigenous navigation in the African continent, which has been long buried beneath the imposed Cartesian Logics of western cartography and astronomy.” -&nbsp;RADIUS CCA https://miriamhillawi.com/Mythos-Materia Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:22:05 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/Mythos-Materia Mythos &amp; Materia: Eating the/each Other &nbsp; &nbsp;Onassis Foundation, Athens, Greece Miriam Hillawi Abraham, 2026 <img width="4961" height="3508" width_o="4961" height_o="3508" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/422ba998d7ca2449952f63612205e6e02216623fe103190540d49c9bff1eb85d/ScannedEtchings.gif" data-mid="250177403" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/422ba998d7ca2449952f63612205e6e02216623fe103190540d49c9bff1eb85d/ScannedEtchings.gif" /> Material Catalogue / 2026 Mythos &amp; Materia: Eating the/each Other, Onassis Foundation, GR &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Borrowing its title from bell hooks’ “Eating The Other”, this work is concerned with the desire, power and metabolic transformations that take place between intelligent beings, both human and otherwise. &nbsp; <img width="1800" height="1200" width_o="1800" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a5858dd6a724ad4a08162acba20ea0e056da071909cc79bb21a4cf6f55c30f59/1638_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" data-mid="250177430" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a5858dd6a724ad4a08162acba20ea0e056da071909cc79bb21a4cf6f55c30f59/1638_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="1200" width_o="1800" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a7c445574362f7f4c03822dda5e785d332621df0ea50de1e5f8f62fe231d9ef1/1614_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" data-mid="250177610" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a7c445574362f7f4c03822dda5e785d332621df0ea50de1e5f8f62fe231d9ef1/1614_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="1200" width_o="1800" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bb9dbff330a0dfeab3d1329f98ce1f029288cc180745ed35b04168a4f74ca16b/0760_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" data-mid="250177454" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bb9dbff330a0dfeab3d1329f98ce1f029288cc180745ed35b04168a4f74ca16b/0760_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="1200" width_o="1800" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/56412ef417048ab37401306dcb245f14f76603704d36966a4131f6293ba8f39e/0761_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" data-mid="250177453" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/56412ef417048ab37401306dcb245f14f76603704d36966a4131f6293ba8f39e/0761_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" /> Installation view &amp; Live Performance / 2026 Mythos &amp; Materia: Eating the/each Other, Onassis Foundation, GR Photo Credit: Onassis AiR Spring Open Days 2026 © Margarita Yoko Nikitaki for Onassis Stegi “I am only concerned with what is not mine” - Oswald de Andrade, Cannibalist Manifesto The work is presented as an erroneous catalogue, an unruly taxonomy of “living materials” collected from Ethiopia, along The Nile and beyond. Materials such as these map a spectral geography, charting invisible linkages as they are carried across political and corporeal boundaries, loaded into caravans, windswept and replanted elsewhere since time immemorial. And as such, they are not beholden to the rules imposed by Western classical systems of categorization and taxonomy. Documented in the format of a fictional materia medica, the collection is riddled with misnomers (that have led to woeful mistakes in the past) and farfetched substitutes with deceptive similarities, revealing the interplay of desire and power between Same and (Exotic) Other. The installation will be activated through a 15 minute performance by an unreliable apothecarist who will offer the materials as solutions and remedies for various needs. <img width="1295" height="1942" width_o="1295" height_o="1942" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ba96522a1fb7cc2096a16d15ca553b0292a8c6867dcc098aa2be967d8e5f0ce3/Onassis_Air_Days_March_2026_Day_1_Pinelopi_Gerasimou_for_Onassis_Stegi_Low-4.jpg" data-mid="250177424" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ba96522a1fb7cc2096a16d15ca553b0292a8c6867dcc098aa2be967d8e5f0ce3/Onassis_Air_Days_March_2026_Day_1_Pinelopi_Gerasimou_for_Onassis_Stegi_Low-4.jpg" /> Installation view &amp; Live Performance / 2026 Mythos &amp; Materia: Eating the/each Other, Onassis Foundation, GR&nbsp;Photo Credit: Onassis AiR Spring Open Days 2026 © Margarita Yoko Nikitaki for Onassis Stegi This formal tradition of desiccating and flattening a living organism in order to “preserve” or study, I found to be rather contradictory or absurd. This in turn led me to my own method of flattening my archive by directly scanning my items in a flatbed digital scanner and then proceeding to print them at the Sektor 30 workspace using photopolymer and traditional etching (intaglio).&nbsp; <img width="1200" height="1800" width_o="1200" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b97646ea0352f95c25e3ea28a2208fc2bd06440d532a6491ce0bedd8a58535cf/1628_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" data-mid="250177429" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b97646ea0352f95c25e3ea28a2208fc2bd06440d532a6491ce0bedd8a58535cf/1628_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="1800" width_o="1200" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5fcb75e5ec95fac236287e54f643e4f813859fa210e2a16093b945e49e043d9e/1598_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" data-mid="250177431" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5fcb75e5ec95fac236287e54f643e4f813859fa210e2a16093b945e49e043d9e/1598_Onassis_AiR_Spring_2026--Margarita-Yoko-Nikitaki-for-Onassis-Stegi_LOW.jpg" /> <img width="1295" height="1942" width_o="1295" height_o="1942" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0aa812035c55c34929e82fe9433dd32f81b13dfeb398226e368958373cba3f74/Onassis_Air_Days_March_2026_Day_1_Pinelopi_Gerasimou_for_Onassis_Stegi_Low-9.jpg" data-mid="250177433" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0aa812035c55c34929e82fe9433dd32f81b13dfeb398226e368958373cba3f74/Onassis_Air_Days_March_2026_Day_1_Pinelopi_Gerasimou_for_Onassis_Stegi_Low-9.jpg" /> <img width="1295" height="1942" width_o="1295" height_o="1942" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f126ece1efbfd4c7e7e8ccbeff86d23c8488912d446ec9877536bfc647caac34/Onassis_Air_Days_March_2026_Day_1_Pinelopi_Gerasimou_for_Onassis_Stegi_Low-72.jpg" data-mid="250177432" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f126ece1efbfd4c7e7e8ccbeff86d23c8488912d446ec9877536bfc647caac34/Onassis_Air_Days_March_2026_Day_1_Pinelopi_Gerasimou_for_Onassis_Stegi_Low-72.jpg" /> Installation view &amp; Live Performance / 2026 Mythos &amp; Materia: Eating the/each Other, Onassis Foundation, GR Photo Credit: Onassis AiR Spring Open Days 2026 © Margarita Yoko Nikitaki for Onassis Stegi https://miriamhillawi.com/The-Incomplete-Cosmic-Catalogue Tue, 04 Nov 2025 18:37:57 +0000 Miriam Hillawi Abraham https://miriamhillawi.com/The-Incomplete-Cosmic-Catalogue The (Incomplete) Cosmic Catalogue&nbsp; &nbsp;Jan van Eyck Printing and Publishing, Maastricht, NL Miriam Hillawi Abraham, 2025 <img width="5435" height="3628" width_o="5435" height_o="3628" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aaa287842f11617d2f6ae0823b9e5aaed31ed89c72e8130a26899f50f7c6872a/Flip.jpg" data-mid="240251741" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aaa287842f11617d2f6ae0823b9e5aaed31ed89c72e8130a26899f50f7c6872a/Flip.jpg" /> Map Demonstration / 2025 The (Incomplete) Cosmic Catalogue, Jan van Eyck Open Studios,&nbsp;NL &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The (Incomplete) Cosmic Catalogue is an output of a research project that was initially commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Architecture as part of the multi-disciplinary research fellowship, The Digita Now: Architecture and Intersectionality in 2022.Mapping constellations between five specific pre-colonial cosmological examples extending from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa, this work reframes cosmology as a multi-dimensional and scalable practice of situated technologies and embodiedcartographies. The resulting publication which was produced during the Jan van Eyck residency is a culmination of several years of research and exploration into precolonial cosmologies and spatial orders rooted in the African Sahel extending to the Horn of Africa. <img width="6514" height="5000" width_o="6514" height_o="5000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f09d403d5f2acd492b1313cc9ce8976b3b9706d6fbfa55f88ae358d13a439995/SelectedSpread.png" data-mid="240286256" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f09d403d5f2acd492b1313cc9ce8976b3b9706d6fbfa55f88ae358d13a439995/SelectedSpread.png" /> <img width="6514" height="5000" width_o="6514" height_o="5000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4dfb7be5f64517186c9d512430ac6296b0f3213b8c2eeb824fc70b44189d8259/SelectedSpread1.png" data-mid="240286257" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4dfb7be5f64517186c9d512430ac6296b0f3213b8c2eeb824fc70b44189d8259/SelectedSpread1.png" /> <img width="6514" height="5000" width_o="6514" height_o="5000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9e4df3ae57f511913d867908d2a6df15d019a51615dcd00f8d26bbd7e5f46186/SelectedSpread2.png" data-mid="240286259" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9e4df3ae57f511913d867908d2a6df15d019a51615dcd00f8d26bbd7e5f46186/SelectedSpread2.png" /> <img width="6514" height="5000" width_o="6514" height_o="5000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7aedb2f94dadb6c25f714fceb3d65b7ab13a26d080ab3e37b1b325750bc1fd9e/SelectedSpread3.png" data-mid="240286260" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7aedb2f94dadb6c25f714fceb3d65b7ab13a26d080ab3e37b1b325750bc1fd9e/SelectedSpread3.png" /> <img width="6514" height="5000" width_o="6514" height_o="5000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1134ec03fa45b70e15f09536b4519d558d4b9ef63e08ed7ea52a07f91e61a897/SelectedSpread4.png" data-mid="240286261" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1134ec03fa45b70e15f09536b4519d558d4b9ef63e08ed7ea52a07f91e61a897/SelectedSpread4.png" /> “A book of this kind is unavoidably incomplete; each new edition forms the basis of future editions, which themselves may grow on endlessly.” - Jorge Luis Borges, El libro de los seres imaginarios, 1967&nbsp; <img width="2556" height="1948" width_o="2556" height_o="1948" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/50a71de5ce9b9102fa6f76b7dea2b6d3b5d3afdab0c43b6532071a29c0dfe2f8/Talisman2DMapCompressed.gif" data-mid="240251743" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/50a71de5ce9b9102fa6f76b7dea2b6d3b5d3afdab0c43b6532071a29c0dfe2f8/Talisman2DMapCompressed.gif" /> Etching of Andromeda and Pegasus imprinted in Arabic Gum against the constellations / 2025 The Cosmic Outpost, Jan van Eyck Open Studios, NL The [Incomplete] Cosmic Catalogue is a generative tool for Black radical imagination and placemaking, existing in a digital-analogue continuum that allows it to grow and mutate with intention. The emerging work is intended as a technology that through embodiment will be resistant to dislocation and dispossession.