A sensorial site-specific participatory installation, it aims to unite people around a universal ritual by addressing themes such as collective memory, belonging, and hope. The art creation invites visitors to pick up one of the 20,000 wax nails lined up on the floor and melt it on the dedicated heated sculptures, releasing one of three scents embedded in the nails: blood, earth, and jasmine. The public's participation gives soul to Mawtini, transforming the installation into a collective celebration of life.

MAWTINI was shown at
Nuit Blanche Paris art festival, Paris, France 2014
Night of Philosophy & Ideas event in Brooklyn, New York City 2020
Pauline Pavec gallery, Paris, France 2021
Espace écureuil, Toulouse, France 2023

MAWTINI - notre Terre -
October 4, 2014
Nuit Blanche Paris
Saint Séverin church, Paris

The art installation was displayed inside the Saint Séverin church in Paris where Middle Eastern music resounded through the building, inspired by melodies and poetry from Gibran Khalil Gibran, Mahmoud Darwish, Al Buhturi, Georges Henein and Nizar Al Kabani and improvised by Samuel Liégeon to the tunes of the pipe organ. The building was also flooded with green light, a color that symbolizes peace in Arabic culture.

With the contribution of
Francis Kurkdjian (perfume)
Samuel Liégeon (sound)

In partnership with
Maison Francis Kurkdjian
Maison Cire Trudon
Silvana K Designs
Hitachi Digital Media
EasyLum

with the support from
Atelier Agopyan, Architectes Urbanistes
Association Art, Culture et Foi-Paris
Braun et Associés Architectes

Press release (Frensh) ︎︎︎
Press release (English) ︎︎︎

Printed poetries, A3 ︎︎︎

“Your breath upon the wind shall surely lodge within some breast
Ask not whose breast it is
See only that the breath itself be pure
Your word shall seek and surely find some ear
Ask not whose ear it is
See only that the word itself be a true messenger of Freedom
Your silent thought shall surely move some tongue to speech
Ask not whose tongue it is
See only that the thought itself be lit with loving Understanding”

Mikhail Naimy

MAWTINI - motherland -
February 1, 2020
Night of Philosophy & Ideas
Brooklyn Public Library, New York City

“...If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song. And if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky”

Gibran Kahlil Gibran

With the contribution of
Francis Kurkdjian (perfume)
Sivan Eldar (sound)

In partnership with
Cultrual Services French Embassy in the United States
Brooklyn Public Library
Maison Francis Kurkdjian
Maison Cire Trudon
Silvana K Designs

Printed poetries, A3 ︎︎︎

“I can close my eyes and, thirty years later, see my father sitting in the courtyard, his cup of coffee in front of him, his brazier, his can of tobacco and his newspaper ... on which, every five minutes, a white jasmine flower fell as a love letter from heaven”

Nizar Kabbani

MAWTINI, Nail
Paraffin, fragrance
9 x 2 x 2 cm

“I long for my mother’s bread,
My mother’s coffee,
My mother’s touch.
Childhood is raised in me,
Day after day.
And I so cherish life
Because if I died
My mother’s tears would shame me.”

Mahmoud Darwish

ODORE 2021
January 13 -Februrary 20, 2021
Cureted by Sandra Barré
Pauline Pavec gallery, Paris, France.

“Have conversation with the wind that goes
Bearing a pack of loveliness and pain:
The golden exultation of the grain
And the last, sacred whisper of the rose”

Al Maari

Horizons Olfactifs
Februrary 19 -March 20, 2023
Cureted by Sandra Barré
Espace écureuil, Toulouse, France.

PROJECTS

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“...If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song. And if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky”

“I can close my eyes and, thirty years later, see my father sitting in the courtyard, his cup of coffee in front of him, his brazier, his can of tobacco and his newspaper ... on which, every five minutes, a white jasmine flower fell as a love letter from heaven”

“I long for my mother’s bread,
My mother’s coffee,
My mother’s touch.
Childhood is raised in me,
Day after day.
And I so cherish life
Because if I died
My mother’s tears would shame me.”

“Have conversation with the wind that goes
Bearing a pack of loveliness and pain:
The golden exultation of the grain
And the last, sacred whisper of the rose”

PROJECTS

LIBRARY

INFO

+

“...If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song. And if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky”

“I can close my eyes and, thirty years later, see my father sitting in the courtyard, his cup of coffee in front of him, his brazier, his can of tobacco and his newspaper ... on which, every five minutes, a white jasmine flower fell as a love letter from heaven”

“I long for my mother’s bread, My mother’s coffee,My mother’s touch. Childhood is raised in me, Day after day. And I so cherish lifeBecause if I died My mother’s tears would shame me.”

“Have conversation with the wind that goes Bearing a pack of loveliness and pain:The golden exultation of the grainAnd the last, sacred whisper of the rose”

“I long for my mother’s bread,
My mother’s coffee,
My mother’s touch.
Childhood is raised in me,
Day after day.
And I so cherish life
Because if I died
My mother’s tears would shame me.”

“Have conversation with the wind that goes
Bearing a pack of loveliness and pain:
The golden exultation of the grain
And the last, sacred whisper of the rose”