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Doa Aly

Egypt

Smenkhkare: The Many Forms of Silence, 2022
Singapore Biennale 2022 Commission

Semenkhkare: The Many Forms of Silence draws inspiration from an artefact that, according to a museum in Cairo, belongs to King Semenkh-Ka Re. Little is known about this enigmatic Egyptian pharaoh, especially as historical records of the figure and the general period in which the figure had lived have been systematically erased by the successive Egyptian dynasties. Intrigued by this mystery, Doa Aly presents an interpretation of this artefact by drawing from popular and scholarly history, forensic investigation, speculation and imagination. Underlining the subjectivity of history, archeology and curating, Aly explores how these silent objects presented in anthropological museums embody ideas of dislocation and dispossession.

BIO
Doa Aly (b. 1974) is an artist who works across various media. Her research-based projects unfold through the deconstruction, reinterpretation and re-appropriation of various sources, drawn from literature, history, anatomy and movement. Aly has a long history of working with relics of antiquity and has reinterpreted texts and objects through choreography, sculpture, drawing and text collages, owing to her interest and involvement in archaeological processes of excavation and recovery. She currently lives and works in Cairo.

INFORMATION

  • Smenkhkare: The Many Forms of Silence. 2022. Mixed media sculpture; pencil and ink pen on cotton paper. Dimensions variable.