Wael Shawky : Je suis les hymnes des nouveaux temples - LUMA 2025

📍 LUMA Foundation, Arles

▪️ iDzia Installation: the lighting, the video, the sound

When Technique Becomes Ritual

Presented at the LUMA Foundation in La Grande Halle from July to November 2025, Wael Shawky’s installation Je suis les hymnes des nouveaux temples (I Am the Hymns of the New Temples) offers a multimedia sensory experience.

An artist who bridges video art, sculpture, and mythological narratives

Wael Shawky, born in Alexandria in 1971, is a contemporary artist known for his video works, installations, and experimental film projects. A leading figure in narrative and hybrid art, his work draws on a reinterpretation of historical and mythological narratives from the Middle East, blending reality and fiction while challenging dominant cultural representations.

His epic films create an open dialogue between different perspectives, without favoring one over another. Among his most renowned works is the trilogy Cabaret Crusades (2010–2015), in which he uses puppets to reenact the medieval Crusades from an Arab perspective. His works are now part of the collections of major international institutions, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, and the MACBA in Barcelona.

Metamorphoses of Myth in Wael Shawky’s Installation

Je suis les hymnes des nouveaux temples transformed LUMA Arles’ Grande Halle into a timeless space where history and contemporary narratives engage in dialogue. Drawing notably on the city of Pompeii as a starting point, the Egyptian artist revisits the myths of ancient Greece through a contemporary narrative. The exhibition thus explores:

“Timeless forms of storytelling, symbolism, and ritual, connecting a shared cultural memory to an experience of rare emotional and philosophical depth” (LUMA Foundation, 2025).

At the heart of the installation, a film features the goddess Gaia and shows how myths evolve and circulate from one civilization to another. Glass and bronze sculptures complement the ensemble, evoking fragility and transformation.

Thus, I Am the Hymns of the New Temples demonstrates that myths continue to live on by taking on new forms through contemporary art and technology.