From solo exhibition A Thousand Forms of Resistance at Vänersborgs Konsthall, 2026
Lament of Warfare, 2024
2 x 2 x 2 meters
Wood structure, 10-meter length of hand-sewn textile that is hand-painted with 'Dictatorship Blue,' sound installation, Arabic Bakhur, rugs and cushions, and strobe lights.
This installation transforms the exhibition space into a sensory environment shaped by the experience of living under bombardment. Through tactility, scent, strobe light, and sound, the work builds a state of pressure, interruption, and disorientation. It approaches war trauma not as an image of destruction, but as something felt through the body.
The installation explores the tension between immersion and discomfort. Its sensory qualities can appear seductive, while at the same time producing physical unease, alertness and instability. Scent becomes a trigger for memory, light becomes alarm, and sound moves between curiosity and threat.
Alongside the physical installation, a sound piece by Swedish sound engineer Agnes Cassel intensifies this unstable atmosphere. The work considers how violence continues to live in the senses, and how the body remembers danger long after the moment of violence has passed.
The installation's interior is intentionally left in a raw, chaotic, and incomplete state. This design choice challenges visitors' expectations and conventional notions of “Middle Eastern” aesthetics. By presenting an unrefined space, I aim to provoke a shift in how we perceive and understand the war trauma and lived experiences of marginalized individuals.
From Speculative Gatherings exhibition at Slakthuset in Göteborg, 2024. ©Salma Afash