Until The Salt In The Sea Ferment To Honey (2025)

With Until The Salt In The Sea Ferment To Honey, Taqwa Ali explores the intertwining of landscape, memory, and displacement. A monumental ten-meter-long roll of paper hangs from the ceiling to the floor, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in a landscape of currents. The organic patterns emerge through a process in which seawater, fresh river water, and oxidizing hibiscus flowers come together. The work is thus shaped not only by the artist’s hand, but also by nature itself.

Commissioned by Museum Kunstcentrum De Ploeg in Groningen, Ali worked with water from the Wadden Sea and salt from local salt deposits to capture the dynamics of wind, currents, and silt in the northern waterbeds. Instead of a horizon, she opts for a bird’s-eye view. Satellite images serve as the starting point for abstract compositions that make the ever-changing dynamics of the landscape tangible.