Opening of the Mouth (2025)
Alexandrian kites, video, found audio
The Opening of the Mouth ritual is an Ancient Egyptian funerary ceremony that restores the deceased’s senses, allowing them to speak, breathe, eat, and see in the afterlife. This work invokes a parallel spell for the living, for our children: a rite of giving that secures their right to speak, breathe, eat, and see in this lifetime.
Alexandrian kites hang in attention, in formation, erratic and organized. A piercing orange light spotlights them from multiple angles. The audio of a young Ghazzawi child speaking a variation of Ahmed Matar’s poem, “Oh Jerusalem, my Apologies” can be heard around the corner. The name of the child could not be traced but his words and his voice remains, an opening of the mouth that enacts a spell back to us.
