Opening flour, water, soil
Join us for the festive opening of flour, water, soil, the upcoming exhibition at W139. During the evening, there willl be snacks by maria khatchadourian and Common Ground, a custom flour, water, soil cocktail and a performance by GalalaLive.
flour, water, soil, initiated by maria khatchadourian, takes shape through new and adapted site-specific works by Areej Ashhab, the duo Common Ground (Anna Celda and Saja Amro), Ola Hassanain, maria khatchadourian, Ai Ozaki and belit sağ. Together, the works in the exhibition attend to soil, seed, water, fermentation, and ruin as sites where care and violence are entangled—holding stories of repair, dispossession, and continuity.
GalalaLive will be performing Ya Quddus, which takes the form of a mantra or prayer intended to offer resilience in challenging times. The performance will feature improvisation in sound and music, drawing inspiration from Egyptian Sufi zikr and Coptic chants, particularly as experienced during mawlid celebrations, where rhythmic trance and collective devotion emerge through breathing, repetition, and poetry.
GalalaLive is a dynamic sound collective founded in 2019 by Abdo Zin Eldin, a Cairo- and Amsterdam-based multidisciplinary artist and Rijksakademie resident. Its fluid membership shifts in relation to each performance and context, making each iteration distinct. The collective engages with sonic practices from communities in Egypt that are increasingly at risk of erasure—such as Sufi festivals (mawālid), popular weddings, processions, and raves—re-articulating them through collaboration with international musicians and sound artists. Their work explores ritual, memory, and improvisation, positioning collective listening as a shared and potentially transcendent experience. They have presented work in venues and museums across Egypt and the Netherlands.
