On This Sacred Day

For the open studios of the Mabiti AlUla Artist Residency, Muhannad Shono presents an installation set among the palms of the oasis: a black, ritualistic catafalque of sand-cast brick segments, on which palm materials are laid to rest and then burned. A journey of plant, ash, smoke and sky — a cycle of death and renewal unfolding inside a living grove. In the rising smoke are stories of comings and goings, of loss and remembrance.

The burning of trees in the oasis has also been noted as an act of protest against the arrival of change — a lament for the loss of the familiar and the familial. At the same time, controlled burns of overgrown, dense or dry vegetation are often necessary to prevent uncontrollable wildfires. Purposeful change and transformation thus become urgent acts of preservation, safeguarding against fires that would otherwise reduce the world to ash.