Materials are not silent witnesses. They carry stories and traces of origin and loss, and transmit knowledge. In An Eye Dreads the Sun, earth, plant-based pigments, textiles, sound and the human voice become carriers of memory. By bringing these material histories into view, the artists create space for other ways of perceiving.
The title, which is drawn from a poem by Etel Adnan, evokes an ambiguous image: the sun as a life-giving force as well as a witnessing eye for violence, strife, and displacement. Sometimes it illuminates the world; at other times, it mercilessly lays it bare. In A Thousand Sunsets (2026), a monumental installation by Atousa Bandeh, this tension takes on a tangible form. The installation brings together the ever-changing colours of sunsets, seemingly suspending these fleeting moments in time.
In the works of AYO, Taqwa Ali, Jennifer Tee and Nolan Oswald Dennis, memory and knowledge also take on material form. Taqwa Ali works with natural materials, including hibiscus extracts. In A Score for Atat’s Homestead, AYO explores how sound can make hidden histories and a lost homeland audible. In Jennifer Tee’s work, the tulip refers to colonial trade networks, while Nolan Oswald Dennis uses archaeological fragments and raw materials to evoke a living relationship between land, ancestral knowledge and memory.
An Eye Dreads the Sun concludes a trilogy exploring transformation from both poetic and political perspectives. The exhibition asks how we might look at what so often remains unseen. Just as materials retain traces, the sun illuminates what has been obscured.
19 Sep | Sat | 20.00: Brandstof-Performance: AYO - A Score For Atat’s Homestead
8 Oct | Thu | 18.00: Garage Café