The Phoenix would build its nest at the top of the date palm where the fire of rebirth would
eventually rise and burn. From this fire the Phoenix is reborn.”
The exhibition equally marks the encounter and intersection of two independent practices. Catalina Swinburn and Mohamed Amine Hamouda where their materials and ends
collaboratively overlap. As part of her research, Swinburn made several trips to Gabès,
witnessing Ben Hamouda’s decade-long construction of paper from vegetal scraps in his
studio, a place where they jointly crafted the paper used in their collaborative work. In the
mezzanine space, Swinburn weaves together paper produced by Ben Hamouda from fibres
extracted directly from palm trees from the Oasis of Gabès, utilising palm leaves and natural
pigments. This paper was later engraved with local knitting and crochet techniques by local
women artisans, culminating in Swinburn’s piece, The Phoenix Rebirth.