Bab Mahrouk - 2016

Bab Mahrouk is a wooden block detailed with 11,000 blue safety matches in the style of a traditional Tunisian door, a typical sight you would see in seaside neighborhoods such as La Goulette

It’s an homage to the traditional Tunisian door, whose style derives from Andalusian influence. In Tunisia, the decorative nature of the nails form Jewish, Christian, and Muslim symbols.

In this artwork, this symbolism is replaced with thousands of matches, posing the danger associated with fire, and being burned, with questions of home and safety. Alongside this block of wood is a video installation of an original door with the soundtrack of the old Tunisian song, Bab Darek, meaning “Your Home’s Door,” and sung by Louisa Tounsia, a Jewish songwriter in the early 1900s.

11,000 blue safety matches, 180 x 120 centimeters wooden box, video length 4:50, headphones

KIT, Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, 2016