Opening An Eye Dreads the Sun

Curator: Cynthia Jordens

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.

The exhibition brings together new and existing works by AYO, Taqwa Ali, Atousa Bandeh, Nolan Oswald Dennis and Jennifer Tee and concludes a trilogy exploring transformation from both poetic and political perspectives.